The lurking specter of homelessness in Greece

You won't see Giorgos sleeping rough but he is still at risk of finding himself back on the streets, homeless and alone, as he was four years ago, when his small mom-and-pop business went bust after hobbling through the crisis.

In his 50s and without any special training or skills, temporary work here and there was the best he could manage. He had no close relatives to help him out and in 2019 he could no longer afford to pay rent. His friends took him for a short time before he ended up on the streets.

"My beard and all my hair fell out in just six months. Homelessness is not something you can get used to, especially when you're in your 50s," he says. After a short stay in a shelter, he found a more permanent solution through the state's "Housing and Employment" program, which put him up in a subsidized apartment for three years in a suburb of western Attica. Now...