Portugal
(last updated October 2001) |
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Introduction and OverviewIn making the case for recognizing a unique type of welfare state in Southern Europe, covering Spain, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, Lewis points to the type of family solidarity characterizing the region. In contrast to Northern Europe,
Given such a role for the family, why-Lewis asks-so little by way of explicit family policy in Southern Europe? Here, timelines are important. She cites Claude Martin's observation that the modern development of European social welfare systems has taken place during a long economic recession-which occurred just when the family was "engaging in a process of change linked to transformations of the labor market"(2). All of this would seem to apply to Portugal. The European Family Observatory's Portuguese expert, Karin Wall, offers a similar assessment: after 15-20 years of gradual economic improvement, poverty and poor living conditions remained the great challenge to Portuguese family policy. The socialist government that took over in late 1995 opened many taboo subjects for examination and discussion and acted on a number of fronts, but only limited measures were possible. The family still "is expected to compensate for weakness of social policies"(3). All observers report increased attention to family measures, plans and some upgrading, but economic progress is modest and therefore a major constraint. Demographic change is considerable, other pressures also great. "Family policy has…remained rather in the shadow of social policy" and social provision-especially for vulnerable families "has been sketchy and poor"(4). Portugal is a quite homogenous country, overwhelmingly Catholic and Portugese-speaking.
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HighlightsClick here to view or print country highlights in pdf format. |
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Government AgenciesFull understanding of some Portuguese government structural and social security/medical care rigidities requires more complete review than is here undertaken of the 1926 military dictatorship and the Salazar regime which followed (1932) and remained in control until 1968, the political constraints of the 1960s, and economic constraints of the 70s, the stable conservative government and its stress on stability from late 1985 to late 1995, and the need to meet requirements to enter the European Union(5). The family policy of today still reveals some elements of the organization of social protection by the Salazar regime and continuities in the 1976 Constitution and 1977 Civil Code. A state department for the family accountable to the Ministry of Social Affairs was created in 1980, went through several organizational evolutions, and had the lead in formulating and moving family policy(6). In 1995, in a ministry restructuring, after the Socialist victory, Portugal created a Ministry of Solidarity and Social Security (now Labour and Solidarity). A Directorate-General for the family is within this ministry. A related decree created a High-Commissioner for the Promotion of Equality and the Family, who works in cooperation with High-Commissioners concerned with immigration and ethnic minorities. With this structure in place. the government announced a comprehensive, ambitious but very general family policy-which has thus far led to modest steps. The family policy programs now reside on the national level with theMinistry of Labor and Solidarity. A State Secretariat for Social Security and Labor Relations carries responsibility for most cash benefits and shares some responsibility for resource sufficiency with a State Secretariat for Employment and Training. There are various national bodies for technical coordination and regional centers for social security and employment. A Ministry of Health is responsible for health care through regional and sub-regional health authorities and a Ministry of Education carries responsibility for nursery schools, which operate under diverse public and private auspices. There is a Secretary of State for Youth Affairs. Much of the implementation for ECEC depends on municipality initiatives.
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Demographic and Other Social TrendsLess urbanized and still less economically modernized than most of Europe, Portugal has a population of about 10 million, about 17.5 percent under age 15 (about the European Union (EU) average), and almost 15 percent over 65 (a bit below the EU average). In the early 1990s, 11 percent of all Portuguese families were lone-mother families, a rate similar to that in France, below the Nordic countries, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Canada, but higher than Italy, Luxembourg, Greece, Ireland, Belgium, and Spain. (U.K. and U.S. are in another category, more than double the Portuguese rate.) As in Ireland, Spain, and Italy, the dominant single mother group are listed as widows rather than as divorced, separated, or unwed, as elsewhere. The majority of children under 18 (72.8 percent) live in married or cohabitating households. Only 5 percent (an extraordinarily low number) live in lone-parent households. The remainder are in extended family households. In 1996 only 3.3 percent of Portuguese children under 15 lived in a household without a working adult. A dominant note in Portuguese demography is the total fertility rate of 1.54 (2000), above Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria and Japan, and equal to Swden, but among the world's lowest. Since the 1940s, the Portuguese demographic path has been the familiar one in the industrialized West: a fall in births, fertility, family size and later marriages as female labor force participation rates increase and women increase their education. However, because of past patterns, it is the only EU state expecting moderate growth in its 0-14 group over the next 15 years.(7) According to mid-90's EU data, after Denmark, Portugal has proportionately the fewest housewives in Europe. It is a complex picture. Of some interest, the labor force participation rates of married/cohabitating mothers (55 percent) are not very different from rates for lone mothers (50 percent). Part-time female employment is low, few women are in high-level jobs. A Portuguese expert comments: Women now in their 50s have hardly ever worked, whereas young women are expected to keep full-time jobs when they have children, despite child care shortages. Total Portuguese unemployment has moderated, youth employment remains low in European context and labor force participation is high for 20-24s. (This is not updated for the general 2001 downturn). In one unique twist Portugese women have high labor force participation with 3 children; others show a decline after 2. Portuguese illiteracy rates have been historically high, but compulsory schooling (having recently gone from 6 to 9 years) now extends to age 14, and over 90 percent of the 6-15 group are enrolled. There is concern about high drop-out rates (100,000 per year), variously attributed to illegal child labor, inadequate school facilities, parental illiteracy and inability to "sustain" school going. Many countries, but not all, enroll more of the 15-19s in further education. Portugal, along with Spain, shows the largest EU improvement in educational attainment for the 25-29 age group, but still has much catching-up to do.(8) It still leads the EU in the percent who leave school (45 percent) with low levels of education. In the educational "catch-up", girls lead boys.(9)
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Social ProtectionOver recent decades there has been considerable secular departure from the strong Catholicism of Portuguese family policy. Women, long limited in status have been subject of efforts to define them as co-responsible with their husbands in the running of the family and legally protected against any discrimination-including in employment. Family planning has been incorporated in the health services since the mid-1970s but there are strict limits on abortion(10). Portugal has most of the institutions and programs of social protection, all constrained by economic realities and historical patterns, some of which have yielded slowly. Its economy is among the smallest in the OECD and its per capita GDP the lowest in the European Union, but it has halved the gap in living standards in 15 years. Government's share of revenue and government expenditures as a percentage of GDP have been below OECD averages since the 1960s and are not very different than the U.S. and U.K., if well below the more prosperous West and North Europe nations. Total social protection expenditures rose from 15.5 to 21.6 percent of GDP between 1990 and 1996, compared to an EU average of 28.7. By 1992, Portuguese family expenditures were 4.7 percent of all of its social expenditures, compared with 6.9 percent average for E.U. countries; its maternity expenditures at .9 percent of GDP were average for the E.U. Family expenditures claimed a 5.6 percent share by 1996. While below the E.U. in rate of health expenditure as a portion of GDP from the mid-70s, Portugal was making an above-average effort by the early 90s. Portugal is not included in the LIS poverty data base, the source of most international comparisons in the industrial world, but it reports family poverty as a source of considerable concern. Analysis from a European household survey for the early 1990s showed the lowest per capita GDP in the EU, except for Greece, a population poverty rate of 46.9 percent and a child poverty rate of 49.7 percent(11). In mid-1996, Portugal enacted a minimum income scheme, part of the earlier socialist platform and the program clearly is influenced by the French RMI. It requires participation by recipients in "social integration" activities and action to avoid school absenteeism by children in the family. In the early months the caseload covered 2606 households, of which 45 percent were couples with children and 22 percent were lone parents.
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Child, Youth and Family PoliciesMaternity, Paternity, Parental, and Family LeavesPortugal's first maternity benefit legislation goes back to 1984. The program was improved substantially in 1995. There is a 6 month leave and cash maternity benefit, of which 60 days must follow confinement. The eligible are women insured under social security. The benefit replaces 100% of the mother's wage and is not taxable. Except for 14 days, it may be taken as a paternity benefit by agreement or in instances of the incapacity of the mother. There is no paid parental leave but there is an unpaid leave (1 child, 6 mos; 2 children, 2 years; 3 children, 3 years). It must be taken full-time. Parents may use up to 30 days per child under 10, per calendar year, to care for an ill of disabled child at home (or 15 days for a child over 10). The cash benefit is equal to the level of the sickness benefit. One parent may take leave for up to 60 days in the case of adoption with social security (rather than medical) income replacement.
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Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)In her 1999 report, the Portuguese representative stated the following:
The pattern of low under-3 coverage (12 percent) and relatively low coverage for the 3-6s has been typical of countries with strong cash support for at-home mothers and a transition for older children. It would appear to be lagging behind Portugal's labor force patterns, which are transitional but not typically part-time. A recent Ministry of Education Report indicates coverage for 64.5 percent of the 3-6 age group and a commitment to expansion for both the under-3s and the 3-6s. After-school care is provided for 11 percent of the 6-10 age group. Acknowledgement of major coverage gaps, understanding of the urgency of ECEC expansion- especially for the under-3's- a review of a formal policy framework, and affirmation of the belief that there is "serious" commitment to progress are all reflected in Portugal's background report (as submitted by the Department of Basic Education, Ministry of Education in late 1999) for the OECD 12 country thematic review of ECEC. Portugal was part of a 2000 OECD review of ECEC in twelve countries. Consult the full Portugese report on line or download it at: http://www1.oecd.org/els/pdfs/EDSECECDOCA005.pdf
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Family and Child AllowancesThe main family benefit is a Child and Young People's Family Benefit program. The allowances are income-tested, highest for the lowest income group (up to 1.5 times the minimum wage) and lower for each of two successive income groups. Within each group, allowances vary by the child's age and the number of children. They cover children under age 16, but are extended to 25 for students or disabled youths. (The latter receive a special supplement). Eligibility is for the children of employed parents with social security coverage. Low-income families without social security coverage have access to another scheme. The Portuguese allowance is neither taxed nor indexed. In a 1993 study, with comparisons made in purchasing power parities, Portuguese family allowances were the lowest in the EU, not surprising given its relative economic status. (Spain had no allowances and most families in Greece had no coverage)(13).
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Child and Family Tax BenefitsThere is a system of dependant allowances in the income tax system. School fees are tax deductible. Children are considered dependant if below age 18 and without their own income; there is no age limit for the handicapped.
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Other Child Conditioned Income TransfersA widow's or widower's pension as a survivor of a social security beneficiary is limited to 5 years unless she/he is over 35 years of age or caring for a child. Half-orphans are awarded, respectively, 20,30, or 40 percent of the insured's pension, depending on the number of children. The amount is doubled for full orphans. (There are extra monthly payments at Christmas and in July). There are similar benefits for child survivors of disability beneficiaries. Means-tested survivor benefits at a lower level are also paid ("social pension for orphans") for those without social security eligibility. There is also means-tested unemployment assistance, time-limited, which considers family size in awarding grants.
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Child and Adolescent Health
Portugal has had a universal health care system since a reform in the late 1970s. Cash sickness benefits are available only to those covered by the social insurance system. As noted above, a regional medical administration working through subregional units, all united under health ministry supervision, administers the medical program. However, occupational insurance schemes and other coverage for upper-income people may exclude up to one-quarter of the population from the public system. People who can afford to do so by direct payment-or are in families covered both by the public and a private scheme-choose particular services as per their preferences: public services, private doctors, for-profit and non-profit facilities. While doctors may be seen in public facilities or their own offices, many children and youth (with sub-regional variations) also are served in health centers, schools, and clinics(14). Serious coverage gaps are acknowledged.(15) There are known inequities in staffing and facilities between the poorer North (and the Azores and Madeira) and the remainder of the country. The poorer child health indicators in such areas do not distinguish between living conditions and health care as cause. Various special projects and initiatives seek to address-in the foreign, or rural, or very poor urban populations-the standard poor health indicators, accidents, road accidents, malnutrition-and increases in children and youth of smoking, drinking, sexual activity-but rates are not high by general European patterns. A Mediterranean diet reinforces health measures. Despite great progress, Portugal still lags behind most EU countries for life expectancies. (Its male and female smoker rates, however, are the lowest in the EU). The country has made great progress since 1980 in its infant mortality rates but still (2000) has -with Greece and UK- the highest EU rates, while already doing better than the U.S. Dental health results are average for Europe and child immunization coverage is high.(16)
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School-Aged Children: Policies and ProgramsCompulsory education begins at age 6. As noted earlier, length of compulsory schooling has been increased, efforts are being made to combat child labor and cut school drop-outs. Participation in secondary and post-secondary education is increasing, but many tasks face newly developed and expanded systems, inadequately prepared staffs, and serious resource constraints.
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YouthIn a pattern like that described in our Spain country profile, the family-ism, of Europe's southern tier- the continuing influence and support for the extended family norms and modes means that young people remain at home until economically self-sufficient, cohabitate less, and have fewer out-of-wedlock children. Indeed, just behind Spain's lead, the age at which youth leave the family home is still increasing in Portugal.(17) This and female labor force patterns is considered an important factor in Portugal's low fertility rate. Some Portuguese male youth indicators are of concern: very high death rates (for the E.U.) in the 15-24 age group, exceptionally high rates of death from motor vehicle accidents among the 5-14s, high rates of traffic deaths for 5-14 and 15-24 year old males. There is concern about alcohol, smoking, sexual initiation-but the rates are not out of bounds for Europe. The major responses relate to education and work-as summarized earlier. Teen fertility is high for Europe, exceeded only in U.K., but only about half of these births are to unmarried mothers, well below the E.U. mean. A series of efforts have been inaugurated in recent years to increase youth "participation" in planning and program management and to create channels for protecting youth rights. Portugal was one of the fourteen countries participating in the OECD thematic review, From Initial Education to Working Life - Making Transitions Work . For more detail on the transition to working life in Portugal, see OECD's background report on Portugal. Click here to view in pdf format a table on the Ages at which children are legally entitled to carry out a series of acts in the European Union. See Youth Policies section for definitions of terms used.
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Reconciliation of Work and Family LifeECCE, leaves, and related supports are specified above. The need for adequate care for the 0-3, 3-6 groups remain extensive and advocates also call attention to the lack of income replacement in connection with parental leaves. In a sign of intent, the constitutional revisions of 1997 specify the right of all workers to reconciliations of vocational activity and family life (Article 59). Much is yet to be done.
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| Housing Benefits
A 1993 program is concentrated on the elimination of shanty-towns in metropolitan areas (many occupied by families with children), allowing local subsidies for shanty-town families to buy houses or to repair and return to houses in their home villages. Only a small segment of the shanty-town and sub-standard housing problems are addressed by current programs. There are no housing allowances for families.
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ReferencesFausto Amaro, "Portugal: Improvement of the Quality of Family Life" in Wilfried Dumon, ed., Changing Family Policies in the Member States of the European Union. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, DGV, 1994), pp. 255-270. Jonathan Bradshaw, et al, Support for Children: A Comparison of Arrangements in Fifteen Countries (London: Department of Social Security, Research Report No. 21, 1993. Eurostat, The Social Situation in the European Union, 2001 (Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001). Pierre Guibentif, "Changes in the Portuguese Social Security System" (pp. 47-66); Carlos G. Pinto, "Health "Care Systems, Equity, and Social Welfare" (pp. 141-154); Jane Lewis, "Introduction" (pp. 305-313); Claude Martin, "Social Welfare and the Family in Southern Europe" (pp. 315-335), ALL in MIRE, Comparing Social Welfare Systems in Southern Europe (Paris: Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, 1997). Herwig Immervoll, Holly Sutherland, Klaas De Vos, "Reducing Child Poverty in the European Union: The Role of Child Benefits" in Koen Vleminckx and Timothy Sneeding, eds., Child Well-Being, Child Poverty, and Child Policy in Modern Nations (Bristol, England: Policy Press, 2000, forthcoming). Ministry of Education, Early Childhood Education and Care in Portugal (Lisbon, 1999). "National Report, Portugal, to the World Conference of Ministries Responsible for Youth, in Cooperation with the United Nations", (Lisbon: Office of the Secretary of State for Youth Affairs, 1998). Karin Wall, "Portugal" in Joan Ditch, Helen Barnes, and Jonathan Bradshaw, eds., Developments in National Family Policies in 1996 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, D.G.V, 1998), pp. 213-249. Karin Wall, "Portugal" in John Ditch, Helen Barnes, and Jonathan Bradshaw, eds., Development in National Family Policies in 1995 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, DGV, 1996) pp. 133-142. Karin Wall, "Portugal" in Family Observer, 1999 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, DGV, 2000), pp. 36, 38. Who, Highlights on Health in Portugal (Copenhagen: Who Regional Office for Europe, 1997).
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Notes1 Lewis, "Introduction," p. 309. |
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ContactsWashington Embassy Embassy of Portugal Ministry Mme. Pita P. Machado European Union Family Observatory National Representative Karin Elisabeth Wall |
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Child and Adolescent
Health
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