The Portuguese who receive the minimum wage currently have 65 euros less purchasing power than a year ago due to inflation, which in September was 9.3%, according to data released today by Pordata.
Figures published by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation’s statistical database to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which is celebrated today, reveal that the impact of inflation – which reached data in September that had not been seen since 1992 – makes lower the purchasing power of those who receive the minimum wage from 705 euros to 639.
People who receive minimum old-age and disability pensions (278.05 euros) are effectively left with 252 euros due to inflation, 25.9 euros less in purchasing power than a year ago.
The Pordata study warns that already in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which had been falling since 2014, increased by 12.5%, which made Portugal go from 13th to 8th place among the 27 countries with the largest population at risk of poverty in the European Union.
Between 2019 and 2020, Portugal worsened its position in two other indicators related to poverty: the at-risk-of-poverty rate (from 12th to 10th) and inequality in income distribution (from 10th to 8th).
But it was in the indicator on housing conditions that Portugal got worse: It was the 2nd country of the 27 with the most people living in poor conditions (25%) in 2020 and the following year it was the 5th country with the most population unable to adequately heat the house (16%).
Even so, Portugal is better positioned with regard to the food situation, having been, in 2021, the 2nd country of the 27 in which more poor people were able to secure a meal of meat, fish or vegetarian equivalent every 2 days. (6% are unable to do so).
The groups most affected by poverty in Portugal are households with dependent children, those under 18 and the unemployed, reveal data from Pordata.
In Portugal, the value below which someone is considered poor was, in 2020, €6,653 per year, which is equivalent to €554 per month (in 12 months).
Almost 40% of households with IRS declaration in 2020 earned only €833 monthly in 2020.
That year, for the first time since 2015, the number of households in the minimum income tax bracket also increased, that is, in 2020 the number of families receiving €416 monthly rose 8.6% compared to 2019.