Authors: Maria Theodoratou^1,2, Markella Valsami³

Affiliations:

1. Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Greece
2. Social Sciences, Neapolis University Pafos, Paphos, Greece
3. Job Center Volos, Volos, Greece

• Background: Minimum income schemes often create an "implementation paradox" where rigid administrative structures conflict with relational casework, creating significant psychological burdens for both frontline workers and beneficiaries.
• Aim: This qualitative study investigates the social psychological dimensions of the Minimum Guaranteed Income (MGI) in Volos, Greece, focusing on institutional trust, emotional well-being, stigmatization, and psychosocial coping.
• Methods: Adopting an interpretive qualitative case study design, sixteen semi-structured interviews (n=16) were conducted in municipal welfare structures with frontline workers (n=8) and intersectionally vulnerable beneficiaries (n=8, including single mothers, Roma, migrants, and long-term unemployed individuals). Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis, supported by reflexive researcher logging.
• Results: The qualitative analysis revealed three core empirical themes:
  1. Material Floor vs. Psychological Autonomy: MGI provided an "indispensable" material survival floor for basic needs but failed to foster future-oriented planning, leaving recipients trapped in psychological stasis ("helps me eat today, but I am still in the same situation").
  2. Bureaucratic Saturation and Trust Erosion: Digital compliance demands transformed social workers into "compliance officers," inducing occupational stress and blocking empathetic care. Beneficiaries interpreted this procedural rigidity as social stigmatization, severely eroding institutional trust.
  3. The "Work-First" Fallacy: Mandatory "Individual Action Plans" functioned as empty "procedural shells". Policies ignored the depleted "psychological bandwidth" and chronic stress of living in extreme exclusion, rendering activation attempts demoralizing.
• Discussion: Hyper-procedural welfare delivery degrades the relational foundations necessary for social integration. Sustainable policy must shift from administrative compliance to trust-building relational casework, prioritizing psychosocial stabilization as a prerequisite for activation.