[xyby]

    Meanwhile people sleep on the streets in Greece,
    from children to pensioners.

GDP in Greece is $18k per capita. Why do they sleep on the street? Where do people in Slovakia sleep? They have only $16k per capita.

I have friends in Macedonia. They have a GDP of $5k per capita. And I witness nobody sleeping on the streets, when I visit them.

Isn't Greece a relatively wealthy country, compared to several others in Europe?

[igravious]

This depends on three things, doesn't it?

1) The cost of living.

2) The distribution of wealth.

3) Social safety nets.

So, if Greece has a higher relative cost of living, if the distribution of wealth is relatively more unequal and if they have a relatively worse social welfare system then, yes, they'll face hardship.

A key news story for me from a few years back was how an elderly man lit himself on fire (or hung himself? committed suicide in public anyhow) in a central square in Athens as a direct result of the hardship brought about by austerity measures. And this, in an as you say demonstratively wealthy country. Sickening.

[prewett]

It's the price of housing, not one's income, that determines whether people are sleeping on the streets. (Assuming that they actually are in Greece.) Plus, GDP/no_of_people is an average. Some make more, some make a lot less. Especially those 25% unemployed.

[danbruc]

Wikipedia gives $16,138 vs $18,863 and $29,209 vs $26,773 PPP estimated for 2015, so Slovakia is actually a bit better off.

[dragonwriter]

> Wikipedia gives $16,138 vs $18,863 and $29,209 vs $26,773 PPP estimated for 2015, so Slovakia is actually a bit better off.

...on average, and Slovakia also has (as far as the most recent numbers I can find) a lower Gini coefficient, so should have smaller numbers far above and far below that average.