“The support provided by the Informal Caregiver Statute is far from sufficient, and it is essential that it be revised and at least correspond to the national minimum wage. Caring is an act of love, but also of resistance, and requires recognition and effective appreciation by the State,” says the open letter sent to political parties in the run-up to the legislative elections.

Called “Open Letter to Political Forces: For the Dignity of Families with People with Disabilities”, the letter from the civic movement based in Porto also warns that “these families often live in a spiral of impoverishment”.

“Dedicating yourself to caring for a person with a disability often means that one of the family members has to reduce or give up their professional activity, with drastic financial consequences”, emphasizes the MCD.

Regarding inclusive schools, the movement recalls, “it should be a pillar of equity and social justice” but, in practice, “it is a promise constantly postponed”, pointing the finger at the lack of “qualified human resources” that make “therapeutic responses manifestly insufficient and, at times, non-existent, with the intervention times allocated not exceeding 15 or 30 minutes per week”.

“Families are forced to resort to private therapies, at unfeasible costs, because they know that, without them, their children will fall even further behind. It is not possible to talk about inclusion when it depends on family income,” he adds.

The movement also points out that “in the fiscal and social plan, there is still a lot to be done”, explaining that it is not enough to change the IRS tables “because they do not take into account those with lower incomes” and the withholding tables “do not reflect real changes in the final tax calculation, deceiving families with slight monthly increases that, later, result in unfavourable settlements”.

Critical of the model of granting support based on income, the MCD understands that this formula “completely ignores the composition and needs of the household” and that, therefore, “increasing allowances and social benefits, adjusted to the reality of those who care and those who need care, is a fair and necessary path”.

In the letter, the movement asks the parties for a commitment “in a clear and unequivocal way, to defend families with people with disabilities in their care and, in particular, students with specific educational needs”.

In addition to wanting “concrete and viable proposals” from the party forces, the MCD asks that they “listen to those who experience these difficulties first-hand” and that they “have the courage to do things differently because these families cannot wait any longer”.

According to the “Questionnaire – Inclusive Education 2022/2023: Support for Learning and Inclusion”, there were more than 88 thousand students with specific educational needs in primary and secondary education in Portugal, while in higher education, the number of students with special educational needs reached 4,063 in 2023/2024, representing an increase of 8.3% compared to the previous year, according to figures from the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics.