The “DETH social package” changes the balance in wages, pensions, and benefits, with the largest immediate interventions directed at pensioners, public sector employees, and workers on the minimum wage.
However, the picture is not the same for everyone: some see money immediately, others wait until 2027 or 2028, while on the family front the weight shifts from horizontal benefits toward taxation, with families with three children gaining a significant advantage.
Instead of one-off benefits, the new package of benefits presented by Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis from the podium of the Thessaloniki International Fair includes permanent interventions in income, though not in the same way for all social groups. Some are strengthened with direct payments, others with permanent tax relief, and others through increases that will gradually appear in payroll. Thus, part of the measures starts in 2026, several are implemented in 2027, and some are completed in 2028.
For pensioners, the immediate 400-euro “gift”
Pensioners are the category receiving the most immediate and easily measurable benefit. The annual November support increases from 300 to 400 euros and is expanded to cover approximately 2.2 million beneficiaries.
The basic criterion remains the age limit of 65, while the support also concerns specific categories, such as people with disabilities and uninsured elderly people. The change is particularly important because the 400 euros are net, meaning they are not subject to withholding. The government presents the benefit as an amount approaching an additional national pension.
The second part of the support is the pension increase itself. From January 1, 2027, the offsetting of the personal difference is fully abolished, with the result that older pensioners will now receive the increase in their main pensions. The amount of the increase will be 50% of the sum resulting from the GDP growth rate and the Consumer Price Index.
According to the economic staff, a pensioner with a net monthly pension of 823 euros will have about 208 euros extra from the annual increase (2.6%) and another 400 euros from the support, that is a total annual benefit of 608 euros. For a pension of 1,086 euros the benefit is estimated at 684 euros, while for a pension of 1,716 euros it reaches 849 euros.
Of course, as was the case with the 300-euro benefit, so too with the 400 euros, not all pensioners will see it at the end of December. Those under 65 remain outside this specific support, while the age requirement now constitutes the main filter, as the income criteria are abolished.
Public sector employees: two increases in one package
In the public sector the picture is more complex, with the announcements leading to a “double gain”.
The first part comes from linking the public sector entry salary to the minimum wage in the private sector. As the minimum wage will increase by 80 euros by January 2028, the lowest public sector pay grades will increase accordingly.
The second part is the 500-euro gross Christmas bonus, which will be established permanently from December 2027 and concerns approximately 720,000 public sector employees. In fact, this bonus will not simply be a one-off “bonus”, but part of earnings, which will also be taken into account during the pension calculation process. Therefore, it will also be subject to deductions. Consequently, it will not go entirely into public employees’ pockets. Attention, however. The first payment will be made in December 2027.
Minimum wage: the 1,000 euros are coming in two installments
For private sector workers, the major announcement is the target of 1,000 euros gross regarding the level of the minimum wage. Today the minimum wage stands at 920 euros. The government announced that on April 1, 2027 it will increase above 950 euros and then reach 1,000 euros on January 1, 2028.
The exact amount of the April 2027 increase has not yet been determined. The scenarios being recorded converge on an increase of about 40-50 euros, that is, a minimum wage in the region of 960-970 euros. The second increase, at the beginning of 2028, completes the path toward 1,000 euros. With three-year increments, minimum earnings can reach up to 1,300 euros gross, according to government examples.
However, there is also a second intervention: from April 2027, private sector employees’ social security contributions are reduced by 0.5 percentage points. The reduction will concern the employee side and therefore translates into lower deductions and a higher net salary.
Families with three children: the big tax bonus
In the field of family support lies one of the most important changes in the package, because the support does not come as a benefit but as a tax reduction. From tax year 2027, the tax rate is reduced to zero for income up to 20,000 euros for families with three children. At the same time, the tax-free threshold increases by 11,000 euros, reaching 25,364 euros.
The intervention concerns approximately 86,927 families with three children, including 33,894 self-employed professionals. In practice, for families with three children the state transfers family policy through tax policy. And here lies one of the main differentiations of the new package: instead of a horizontal increase in all family benefits, the government chooses to strengthen families with three children more through income tax.
Thus, for families with children the picture is uneven as there was no announcement of a horizontal increase in the child benefit. The emphasis falls on targeted interventions: tax relief for families with three children, increased birth benefit for large families, a “piggy bank” for children, and higher vouchers for nurseries.
On the other hand, for large families the intervention is immediate. The birth benefit increases by 1,000 euros for each additional child, effective for births from January 2026. Thus, for a fourth child the benefit increases from 3,500 to 4,500 euros, while for a fifth child it reaches 5,500 euros.
And a “piggy bank” for the new generation
One of the most long-term measures is the new investment account for children. Parents will be able to open the account within the first two years from the child’s birth. For every euro the parent deposits, the state will deposit another one, up to 1,200 euros per year. The limit will increase by 10% every five years.
The account will remain locked until adulthood. With the maximum contributions, the capital can exceed 60,000 euros at 18 years, depending also on the investment return, government officials estimate. However, the measure has one basic peculiarity: it is not immediate income. For the child to receive the state contribution, there must first be a corresponding contribution from the parents. And the greater the parents’ contribution, the more the state’s contribution increases as well. If the parents do not have it, then the state does not participate either.
People with disabilities: from benefits to automatic adjustment
A permanent indexation mechanism is introduced for disability benefits from 2027. What does this mean in practice? That benefits will increase every year based on the inflation of the previous year. The measure concerns approximately 218,000 citizens, with an average annual benefit estimated at about 220 euros.
Who are left behind
The big “losers” of the announcements appear to be mainly pensioners under 65, who are not entitled to the 400 euros of annual support, despite the fact that they receive a pension normally.
A second category is families with one or two children who do not fall under the new special tax arrangements for families with three children and are not entitled to the increases in the birth benefit that concern large families.
A third category is public sector employees in terms of payment timing: the new 500-euro Christmas bonus will not appear in 2026 nor in most of 2027, but in December 2027.
Finally, workers who are paid above the minimum wage but do not have three-year increments or are not affected by the new tax scales do not have the same immediate benefit as those who are in the lowest pay grade.