Cash Transfers and Guaranteed Minimum Income Programs:
Research, Evaluation, and Policy
Prague, Czech Republic
September 9-10, 2024
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“Analyzing the GMI Experience of a Welfare State Outlier: The Case of Cyprus”
Varvara Lalioti, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Despite its interesting particularities, stemming from a combination of Beveridgean (e.g. the recent introduction of a comprehensive National Health System) and Bismarckian elements (e.g. the relative high emphasis placed on contributory earnings-related benefits), as well as the turbulent history of the island that has shaped its character over the last decades, the welfare state of Cyprus, often regarded as part of the southern-European welfare universe, is among the least well analysed in the relevant literature. Against this backdrop, and drawing on an extensive literature review and data analysis, the aim of this paper is to shed light upon the introduction, implementation and evolution of the Cypriot guaranteed minimum income (GMI), which substituted the old and outdated public assistance scheme (inheritance of the colonial past of the island) in 2014.
More specifically, our paper discusses this experience, by means of focusing on the following interrelated themes: a) the socio-political context of establishing a GMI in the country in the midst of an economic crisis; b) the scheme’s ‘architecture’, such as the modes of benefit calculation, the GMI activation strategy, links to other benefits, and access to services including the integrated delivery of social inclusion services; c) the implementation of the scheme, as exemplified by costs and effects on recipients’ well-being (e.g. coverage and income adequacy); d) the effect of the scheme on labour supply (identifying labour market incentives and disincentives); and, finally, e) the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of the scheme, as these have been crystallized a decade after its introduction.
The paper’s concluding section summarizes the main research findings reached, including tailored comparisons with other more ‘mature’ GMI European schemes, so as to develop policy proposals targeted at improving the overall impact of the scheme in the country of reference.