At the Thessaloniki International Fair this year, the Greek government is once again expected to promise tax breaks for families with two children. It is a pledge that has been made repeatedly in recent years, reflecting mounting political pressure around the cost of raising children. But international data suggest that such promises have done little to change the financial reality for most households.
Figures from the OECD show that Greece remains among the most heavily taxed countries when it comes to families. The organization’s annual study of the “tax wedge”—the share of labor costs consumed by taxes and social security contributions—places Greece in the fourth-highest position among all OECD members. The difference in tax burden between childless workers and those with two children is negligible: 39.3 percent versus 37.3 percent. Across the OECD, by contrast, families enjoy an average reduction of more than nine percentage points.
This means that Greek parents, despite the added cost of raising children, receive almost no meaningful tax relief. Only Costa Rica, Mexico, and Turkey fare worse, as none of them offer any distinction between households with and without children. In most other OECD countries, the approach is the opposite—families are granted significant fiscal support to ensure a higher level of disposable income.
Part of Greece’s problem lies in the structure of its tax system. With income brackets largely unchanged, rising wages automatically push workers into higher effective tax rates.
In 2024, the average tax burden rose by 2.6 percent, while real wages grew by just 1.7 percent, leaving households with less spending power. At the same time, the country still lags behind the rest of Europe in family support. A single-earner family with two children faces a tax wedge of 37.3 percent, compared to an OECD average of 25.7 percent. Even when both parents work, the figure climbs to 37.5 percent, still far above the OECD average of 29.5 percent.
