Secretaria-Geral do Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social

“In the last two years, we have faced the most challenging challenge of our lives caused by a pandemic, which has shaken us all and which has required strong responses from the welfare state. New answers, never before tested, never before tried, that required a reorganization and a total mobilization of social security, a permanent focus on the protection of citizens, income, employment, support to families, companies and the social sector", said the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, on the second day of the debate. Government Programme, in the Assembly of the Republic.

The Minister highlighted the records achieved in the number of workers declared to Social Security, "which reached, for the first time, 4.8 million people" and in the unemployment rate, where "3.5 million people were covered by new protection mechanisms, different and created according to the new needs that emerged". Two years later, ‘with the full impact of the pandemic, we have a record low of 6% in the unemployment rate, with the March 2022 figures indicating a reduction, once again, of around 18,000 people enrolled in the IEFP’.

Ana Mendes Godinho recalled that the pandemic did not prevent the government from continuing to advance structural reforms in the welfare state and employment, with a focus on raising the minimum wage; job creation with ‘more than 600 000 new jobs and a 40% increase in the salaries declared to the Social Security’; the approval of EUR 250 million of investment in new social facilities for 21 000 new people; the launch of free crèches; the creation of the hourly pension, which has already reached 13 000 people; the construction of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy, "with very concrete measures to lift 660 000 people out of the at-risk-of-poverty-or-exclusion situation and 230 000 workers by 2030".

Attracting and retaining young people

People are the most valuable resource any country has. It is critical to ensure that we create the conditions to attract and retain young people", said the Minister, who pointed out as priorities "to complete the decent work agenda, as a basic pillar for valuing young people in the labour market, framing new forms of work, ensuring stability in employment relations and promoting the real reconciliation of personal, family and professional life, a matter in which Portugal is today a pioneer in the debate".

Halving the gap in the employment rate between men and women and their active participation in the labour market is also one of the ‘ambitious’ targets highlighted by Ana Mendes Godinho in relation to the European Pillar of Social Rights Plan.

Support for children and the elderly

Regarding child support, Ana Mendes Godinho highlighted the target of ‘removing 170 000 children from poverty or exclusion by 2030’, as well as expanding the capacity of crèches, strengthening family allowances and tax deductions for families and promoting the deinstitutionalisation of almost 7 000 children currently in foster care. "We cannot waste 20% of our children who are at risk of poverty and that must be our mission," he said.

For older people and people with disabilities, the priorities are to promote an agenda dedicated to longevity and active participation, the creation of a partial retirement mechanism and the promotion of "autonomy and non-institutionalisation of older people and people with disabilities.

For all this, the Minister said it was essential "to continue the digital revolution in social security, making it closer and more understandable for citizens and businesses and better suited to future challenges".

For Ana Mendes Godinho "a Social Security only fulfills its function of promoting equal opportunities if it is simple, close and accessible to all, in particular to those who need it most and are in greater vulnerability and with less information. Social security for people. This is our mission.

Source: Government Portal