There are 2.104 million people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Portugal. The figure presented by the National Statistical Institute (INE) in the Living Condition and Income Survey shows that – and based on the incomes of the Portuguese in 2022 – inequality in income distribution increased last year.
As detailed by INE, the Gini coefficient – which takes into account the entire income distribution and reflects the differences in incomes between all population groups – registered a value of 33.7%, plus 1.7 percentage points (percentage points) than in the previous year , when it was 32%. The data also shows that the income of the country’s richest 10% is equivalent to 9.7 times the income of the poorest 10%, an increase of 15.4% from the previous ratio of 8.4 year. The net monetary income of the 20% of the population with the highest incomes was 5.6 times higher than that of the 20% with the lowest incomes. This is an increase of 9.5% compared to the 5.1 recorded in 2021.
Given these figures, INE states that last year 17% of the national population was at risk of falling into poverty. A number that grew by 0.6 percentage points compared to 2021. However, this 17% would rise to 41.8% – the equivalent of 4,365,675 people – if the Portuguese would only count on their salaries and private transfers, without a contribution would come from the pensions. and survivor’s pensions. The statistics office indicates that this income contributed to a decrease in the risk of poverty by 20.6 percentage points last year.
And that, with the additional help of social transfers (which come from the state budget), related to illness and disability, family, unemployment and social inclusion, an additional reduction in the risk of poverty of 4.2 percentage points was achieved, i.e. of 21.2 percentage point. % to 17%. However, “this contribution (is) lower than that of previous years”.
Poverty threshold
INE explains that last year the risk of poverty corresponded to the share of residents with a net monetary income of less than 591 euros per month (7095 per year), per adult, and that this affects more women, 17.7%, than men, 16 .2%. In 2022, another 81 thousand people lived on this income, for a total of 1.779 million. The risk of poverty for working-age adults has increased by 0.2 percentage points and that of the older population by 0.1 percentage points
It is the unemployed population that is most at risk of falling into the poverty spectrum. According to the Survey of Living Conditions and Incomes, the risk of poverty among the unemployed population in 2022 was 43.4% (2.9 percentage points more than in 2021). For the employed population this was 10%, compared to 10.3% in 2021.
Academic qualifications are also included in this study, which shows that 22.7% of the population with a completed primary education last year was poor. Among those who completed higher education, this situation affected 5.8% (5.5% in 2021). The INE points out that “compared to the previous year, there was an increase in the poverty rate of people who completed at most a level of education equivalent to primary education (plus 0.7 pp)”.
It is in the autonomous regions that the risk of poverty is greatest, but INE draws attention to the fact that in the Lisbon metropolitan area this risk increased by 4.3 percentage points, from 10.4% to 14.7% in the last year. “Despite the decline observed in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, the two Autonomous Regions maintain the highest at-risk-of-poverty values in the country,” the institute warns, indicating that the rate in the Azores is 26.1% (increased by 1 percentage point) and in Madeira with 24.8% (compared to 25.9% last year).
The poorest
Poverty increased most in families with only one adult member – with or without dependent children. INE specifies that adults living alone saw their economic situation deteriorate the most last year, and that this rate was 24.9% (22.7% in 2021). Families consisting of one adult and at least one dependent child also saw their poverty risk increase from 28.0% to 31.2%, and in households with two adults and two children it rose from 12.8% to 13.9%.
The INE Living Condition and Income Survey also shows that 4.9% of the national population lives in severe material and social deprivation. According to data collected from April to July 2023 and covering the past twelve months, 39.8% of people live in households without the financial capacity to replace used furniture and 30.5% are unable to pay for an unexpected expense which is close to the monthly amount of the poverty line. (without taking out a loan). Similarly, 20.8% of people live in households without the capacity to keep their homes adequately heated (17.5% in 2022).
However, with regard to the European Union, the risk of poverty or social exclusion in our country was 1.5 percentage points below the European average last year, ‘with a relatively more favorable positioning than if only the risk of poverty is limited. considered”.
Mónica Costa is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
