According to a study out this week, one in four children was living in poverty in 2014.
This is explained by researchers as being due to cuts in benefits and many of their parents being made redundant. The poor also lost most of their spending power, with the poorest ten percent losing a quarter of their money.
The middle class lost between 10 and 16 percent, while Portugal’s richest saw earnings drop by 13 percent.
Recent figures also showed that the proportion of Portugal’s population that suffers severe material deprivation last year stood at 9.6 percent of the population, well above the European Union average of 8.2 percent.
According to figures released by Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Commission, 997,000 people living in Portugal were living below the breadline.
Among member states for which 2015 figures are available, the highest rates are for Bulgaria (34.2 percent), Romania (24.6 percent) and Greece (22.2 percent). The lowest are for Finland (2.2 percent), the Netherlands (2.5 percent) and Austria (3.6 percent).
The definition of severe material deprivation covers all those whose living conditions are limited by a lack of resources and who are unable, for example, to pay all their bills, heat their home adequately or take a week’s holiday away.
Meanwhile, one in five workers in Portugal is currently earning the minimum wage.
According to latest government figures, 627,000 people were receiving salary cheques of 530 euros in June, which is down by four thousand on April figures.
This total represents 19 percent of the total working
population.
The minimum wage was increased at the beginning of the year by 25 euros from its previous value of 505 euros.