Based on recent statistics on the social impact of the financial crisis, on an overview of social policy measures to tackle poverty and social exclusion in Greece during the crisis, as well as on interviews with politicians, reporters, trade unionists, technocrats and NGO members that took place in 2014, this paper brings out a problem of double inconsistency or mismatch. The first inconsistency lies in the extent and complexity of poverty and social exclusion in contemporary Greece, on the one hand, and in the public policy measures adopted between 2010 and 2014 to tackle these phenomena, on the other. The second inconsistency is the result of both these phenomena and the vague and inaccurate perceptions of poverty and social exclusion held by those involved in policy making and shaping public opinion. Overall, there has been a gap between the severity of social problems caused by the crisis and the response at the level of understanding these problems and formulating appropriate policy measures.