New law aimed at helping orphans find jobs
Deputy Labor Minister for Welfare and Social Affairs Domna Michailidou on Monday defended a draft law that seeks to help children living in orphanages to find their way in the world by providing them with work experience and job opportunities.
In an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, Michailidou confirmed that the ministry is in talks with the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels to provide jobs for wards of the state once they age out of the system at 18 and for summer internships for teenagers aged 16 to 18.
“We do not want children to spend their childhood and teenage years in institutions and, of course, we do not want them to remain in institutions as adults, with benefits as their sole source of income,” Michailidou told the ANA-MPA.
The bill has been criticized by the leftist opposition as exploiting children in the state’s care.
