The proportion of workers in Portugal earning the national minimum wage of €530 a month rose from around 12% in January 2010 to 19.6% in April 2016.
Currently, 30% of Portuguese workers earn less than €600 a month, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s report on the Portuguese economy published on Monday.
There have been two increases in the minimum wage in the last 28 months: from €485 to €505 in October 2014 and in the change from €505 to €530 in January 2016.
Recognising that these wage increases can have positive effects on pay equity, the OECD notes that there is a risk of "exacerbating income inequalities as they reduce the prospect of low-skilled workers being able to find work."
Seemingly unaware that it is close to impossible to live of €530 a month, the OECD warns that the prospects of continuing to raise the national minimum wage "risks undoing the improvements achieved in competitiveness, which are vital for exporters."
António Costa's government intends to ignore the OECD which few people take seriously, and will continue increasing the minimum wage gradually to €600 by 2019, as part of the government's electoral programme to give workers more money in their pocket to afford the ever rising cost of electricity, fuel and housing.
