Portugal has a total GDP of $251.95 billion, with a GDP per capita of $22,112. Therefore, it is surprising to discover that 19.1% of children in Portugal live in poverty. This article seeks to analyze the causes, effects and solutions to child poverty in Portugal.

The Causes

The main causes of child poverty in Portugal are unemployment and in-work poverty. Portugal’s unemployment rate of 5.8% means that Portugal has a higher rate of unemployment than New Zealand and Kazakhstan, both similar-sized economies. Naturally, unemployment causes child poverty.

The ubiquity of in-work poverty is particularly damaging, as an unemployment rate of 0% would not eliminate child poverty in Portugal, due to low wages combined with labor market segmentation. 

The impact of low wages on child poverty is rather self-explanatory; if one does not receive a reasonable salary, then they will likely live in poverty, whereas labor market segmentation contributes to child poverty by limiting people’s employment opportunities. This is because some sectors of the Portuguese economy do not have transferrable skill sets to other sectors. As a result, people in work effectively become ‘trapped’ in their current sector, unable to leave if wages fail to keep up with the cost of living.

The Effects

Child labor is one of the unfortunate effects of child poverty in Portugal. Fortunately, the country is making great strides toward eliminating this by-product. However, this has not always been the case.

For example, in 1999, the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) found that 49 minors were working as child laborers per 1,000 visits. These children were employed illegally in the construction, hospitality and retail sectors. This has reduced to seven as of 2010.  These children had to find employment due to their economic conditions.

Government Efforts

The Portuguese government realized this, resulting in policies that provide financial aid to families with children at risk of labor exploitation. Consequently, children no longer had to work to provide income for their families, as government financial support filled the financial gap that their labor would fill.

Additionally, education is now compulsory until 18 years old, which has taken children from the constriction site and into the classroom. 

Child poverty in Portugal also ensures that its victims reside in dangerous housing, with more than 25% of Portuguese children living in a house where the roof, walls, floors or doors are either permeable to water or rotten. Damp housing is very dangerous, as it can cause asthma attacks, while also developing into toxic mold, which can cause further respiratory illness.

However, the housing charity Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, has been working to address this issue. This organization simultaneously builds new houses and renovates existing, dangerous properties, to ensure that child poverty in Portugal does not force children to reside in unsafe housing.

In 2016 alone, 35 families in Braga and Amarante were rehoused in newly built houses, which were free from the dangers of toxic mold. While this is only a seemingly small contribution when analyzed on a large scale, this contribution is anything but small for the families who no longer have to worry about the dangers of damp housing.

Solutions

While Habitat for Humanity and the Portuguese government have provided solutions to the effects of child labor in Portugal, solutions to the root cause have yet to be discussed.

The Portuguese government published the Child Guarantee National Action Plan in February 2023, which pledged to spend 5.1 billion Euros. This funding is to be targeted at policies that will reduce child poverty in the long term. For instance, all children will receive one free meal per day at school, which will ensure children eat a nutritious meal. This will improve their health.

Additionally, free preschool will be provided for every child, which ensures that children suffering from child poverty in Portugal are not disadvantaged compared to children whose parents can afford to send their children to a privately funded preschool. This policy will reduce inequality in educational attainment, which will break the cycle of child poverty in Portugal in the long run, as better grades improve people’s job prospects. 

A Short Summary

There are a variety of causes, effects and solutions to child poverty in Portugal. The Portuguese government has made successful interventions to eliminate child labor. Furthermore, Habitat for Humanity has rehoused families at risk of respiratory illness as a result of damp housing. 

It has taken a while, but thankfully the Portuguese government has begun to take serious steps to tackle child poverty in Portugal, with the Child Guarantee National Action Plan.

– Tom Eccles
Photo: Flickr