Migrants in numbers

Eight in ten immigrants in Greece are
employed, but few are satisfied with
their incomes, an MRB study finds

Athens News
By Athens News Staff
IMMIGRANTS under the microscope: social scientists in Greece are learning more about the hundreds of thousands of foreigners living and working in the country. Numerous studies have been conducted in recent years.

Below are the main findings of a survey conducted by the research firm MRB Hellas. The data is based on 491 in-depth interviews with immigrants in Athens last summer.

All respondents are over 18 and hold residence permits. Half of them are Albanians. Twenty-two percent hail from countries of the former Soviet Union (Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova). The rest are Asians, Arabs and Africans.
  • 65 percent are men
  • 50 percent have been living in Greece for 6-10 years
  • One in three have been in Greece since 1998
  • One in six have been here for more than a decade
  • 28 percent of those who have been living in Greece for more than six years are still trying to learn the Greek language
  • 70 percent of the children of immigrants are fluent in the Greek language
  • 83 percent said they feel they have "adapted" to life life in Greece
  • 65 percent live in Greece with their families
  • 44 percent have children who live with them
  • 81.5 percent of Albanian immigrants said they live here with their families
  • 36 percent said they wish to live in Greece permanently
  • 15 percent said they want to live here for about 10 years and then return to their homeland
  • 26.7 percent are not certain about how long they want to live in Greece
  • 59 percent said they decided to emigrate because they could not find work in their homeland
  • 38.4 percent said they emigrated to escape dire economic circumstances
  • 9.2 percent said they fled war and political upheaval in their homelands
  • 92 percent do not regret their decision to come to Greece
  • 78 percent are more or less happy in Greece
  • 44.2 percent are satisfied with their income
  • 62.4 percent are satisfied with their employers
  • 79 percent are satisfied with their social life
  • 90 percent said their life in Greece is much better than in their homeland
  • 45 percent feel uncertain about their future
  • 22 percent feel socially excluded
  • 42.4 percent said they would marry someone of a different nationality
  • 80 percent are employed
  • 23.3 percent work in construction
  • 20 percent are technicians
  • 13.4 percent are merchants
  • 13 percent are domestic workers
  • 67.2 percent are insured with the social security fund 1KA
  • 21.8 percent said they do not have social security
  • 90 percent own a refrigerator
  • 76 percent own an oven
  • 68 percent own a mobile telephone
  • 20 percent have a telephone at home
  • 20 percent own a car
  • 74.5 percent enjoy watching television
  • 46 percent enjoy listening to music in their spare time
  • 31 percent listen to the radio and take strolls in their spare time
  • 21 percent enjoy window shopping in spare time