*  *  Background  For more than one year we have experienced a correction process of unsustainable trends in the financial sector. This correction process has deepened – in particular since Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 15 September 2008 – as regards its magnitude and complexity and has evolved into a fully fledged financial crisis.
Alongside the objective of increasing the efficiency of job-placement activities, the burden of taxes and social security contributions for low income groups was cut. In addition, special incentives were created for household services, so as to exploit more fully the potential which is undoubtedly available in this area.