At the age of 23, after reaching the second year of her degree in social action, Beatriz decided to apply the knowledge in her field of training and earn some loose change for her expenses. She joined the parents’ association that coordinates extracurricular activities at an elementary school close to her home and was asked to teach some visual arts classes. He receives 14 euros per hour worked, which brings in about 200 euros per month, which he gets paid with a green receipt. But unlike other young people, because she is not employed but self-employed, the parents are obliged to add the daughter’s income, which is part of the household, to the IRS declaration. With effects on the amount of social benefits that parents and daughter could receive.
The law has been amended with the rectification introduced in the Agenda for Decent Work, allowing income from dependent work earned by young student workers up to 27 years of age, the annual amount of which does not exceed 14 times the guaranteed minimum monthly wage, “for the purpose of granting social benefits, family allowances, higher education allowances and survivor’s pensions” are not considered income. However, working independently is not covered by the change. Which means that a summer job can lead to the loss of grants or allowances for young people who choose to become a freelancer.
Because it is about rectifying a clear injustice and preventing young people from giving up or opting for informal work, approval is feasible, the liberal deputy believes.
The unequal treatment of young people in dependent or self-employed jobs is inexplicable, perpetuates a situation of injustice and promotes a disincentive to gain professional experience, defends the Liberal Initiative, which has drafted a bill to end “discrimination ” . “Promoting the labor market, streamlining the situation of student workers, not discriminating against the self-employed and encouraging those who want to improve their lives” are some of the objectives of the proposal signed by Carla Castro, which was adopted on June 30 entered parliament. “Because it is a correction of a clear injustice and a measure that deters many young people from giving up or opting for informal work, there is a clear feasibility of consent,” said the deputy, who spoke to DN.
“We must not discriminate against young working students. The proposal aims to eliminate the inequality between the self-employed and dependents in the calculation of income, which has a significant impact on the allocation of social benefits, such as family allowances, higher education grants and survivors’ pensions,” he explains. And he concretizes with an example: “Until recently, a grant holder who wanted to work in the summer to have an extra income lost the right to the grant. This situation has been corrected to a certain amount, but only for next of kin. employees. lose the stock market. It should be noted that many of these jobs are seasonal and temporary, so the expansion will improve the effectiveness of the measure itself,” he says, pointing out that the current law constitutes an “apparent disincentive” to the initiative and promotes a “disproportionate penalty “.
“Students, regardless of their employment status, should have equal access to educational opportunities and access to the labor market,” emphasizes Carla Castro. “Denying equal access to these benefits is discriminatory and counterproductive.” The Liberal MEP also recalls in the project that Portugal is one of the countries where the compatibility of work with study is the least at European level. “At the same time, it is one of the countries where involuntary part-time work is highest.”
The IL’s legislative initiative therefore proposes to “improve and expand the wording of the law and put an end to the current injustice”.
Source: DN
