For many years, Greece lagged behind the rest of Europe culturally and economically. Since Greece joined the European Union in 1981, however, the economy has improved steadily, averaging 4 percent growth per year for the last five years.
Culturally, the changes are equally dramatic, especially changes in women’s roles.
Women are entering the work force at a rapid pace. While this is opening new doors for women, it is causing conflict in the home and changing the way evangelicals are attempting to minister to women.
According to a bulletin from the International Mission Board (IMB), divorce and separation rates are up in Greece, and spiritual things are being pushed aside as families concentrate on gaining material possessions.
Yiannis W., an IMB worker in Greece who asked not to be identified, reported, “We have the same sort of thing that’s happened here in the last 10 years that happened in the United States in the late 1970s, early 1980s.
“I would say the vast majority of women who are under 40 years of age are in the work force,” the worker said. “They have full-time career jobs and there is a strong attitude against women who do not work.”
Some of the tensions in Greek families are a result of women’s changing expectations.
“Entertainment here is huge. Even if they are married, women will make time to go out with other women. With them working, they feel that they deserve it. It’s affected the role of a man as well,” said Yiannis W.
Husbands are left at home to tend the children, which is a big change for the Greek male.
Because of time pressures, many women are resorting to convenience foods for the first time. More space in supermarkets is taken up by prepared foods.
Yiannis W. said most Greek cooking is still done from scratch, because the older generation helps the young families.
“Greek people still have more of an extended family structure rather than the nuclear family,” Yiannis W. said. “The grandparents are either raising or playing a strong role in raising the children. They are cooking the meals, cleaning the house, taking the children back and forth to school.”
While it was unheard of for women to drive in the recent past, modern women are driving.
The two-car family is still rare in Greece; the wife generally drives the car while her husband rides a motorbike.
But one thing that has not changed is young mothers’ devotion to their children, according to Yiannis W. “Women still take their responsibility toward the child very seriously,” Yiannis W. said. “They are very reluctant to take the children to day care or hire a babysitter. If the grandparents cannot keep the children, they employ immigrant women to come in and work as nannies and clean the house.”
All these changes while still clinging to tradition makes it hard for evangelicals to reach not only Greece’s working women, but its general population as well.
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