Eropa, Krisis Sosial Memburuk Akibat Langkah Penghematan
Social Crisis Deepens as Austerity Bites
Editor : Heru S Winarno
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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Brussels (B2B) - Kebijakan pengetatan ekonomi yang diadopsi untuk mengobati krisis utang telah meningkatkan pengangguran di sejumlah negara dan menurunkan harapan peningkatan taraf hidup, kata Komisi Eropa, Selasa.
"Efek sebaliknya dari pemangkasan anggaran pemerintah dan peningkatan pajak terhadap lapangan kerja dan standard hidup, semakin kentara di sejumlah negara anggota Uni Eropa.
"Krisis sosial di Eropa tetap mengkhawatirkan dan di sejumlah negara anggota tak ada tanda-tanda terwujudnya perbaikan," kata Komisioner Lapangan Kerja dan Hubungan Sosial Laszlo Andor dalam satu pernyataan.
Gambarannya semakin kelam saja. Di 27 negara anggota Uni Eropa tingkat pengangguran mencapai 10,8% pada Januari atau lebih dari 26 juta orang menganggur, sedangkan pada 17 negara zona euro angka ini mencapai 11,9%.
Ketika pemerintah-pemerintah di Uni Eropa mengencangkan anggaran untuk menyeimbangkan neraca keuangannya, perekonomian nasional menderita karena upah jatuh dan kesejahteraan sosial dipangkas sehingga memaksa rumah tangga-rumah tangga bertahan dengan menekan belanja.
Pengangguran usia muda berada pada tingkat mengkhawarkan hingga rata-rata 24% di Uni Eropa, dipimpin Spanyol dan Yunani yang angkanya mencengangkan sampai di atas 50%.
"Bagian penduduk Uni Eropa yang mengalami tekanan keuangan masih tetap di atas tingkat yang diperkirakan sedekade sebelumnya dan mempengaruhi hampir satu untuk setiap empat rumah tangga berpendapatan rendah," demikian isi laporan Uni Eropa itu, seperti dikutip Yahoo.
Kesejahteraan membantu melonggarkan dampak awal krisis, namun dari 2010 terbukti kurang efektif karena pemerintah-pemerintah telah dipaksa memotong anggaran akibat melambatnya ekonomi yang memberi mereka sedikit pilihan, demikian laporan tersebut.
Brussels - The austerity policies adopted to remedy the debt crisis are taking an ever greater toll on jobs and households in some countries, with little hope of improvement in sight, the European Commission said Tuesday.
"The adverse effects of public budget cuts and tax increases on employment and living standards are increasingly apparent" in some member states, the Commission said in a report.
"The social crisis in Europe keeps worsening and in a number of member states there is no tangible improvement in sight," EU Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Laszlo Andor said in a statement.
The latest figures make for grim reading -- in the 27-member European Union, unemployment hit 10.8 percent in January, that is more than 26 million jobless, while the 17-nation eurozone saw a record 11.9 percent rate.
As governments tighten budgets to try and balance the public finances, the economy suffers with wages falling and social welfare cutbacks forcing households onto the defensive, thereby reducing demand further.
Youth unemployment is of particular concern, the report said, running at just under 24 percent in the EU, and led by Spain and Greece with unprecedented rates well above 50 percent.
"The share of the EU population reporting financial distress remains well above levels observed at any time in the previous decade, affecting almost one in four low-income households."
Welfare helped ease the initial impact of the crisis but from 2010 has proved less effective as governments have been forced into ever larger cutbacks due to a slowing economy that gives them little leeway, the report said.
