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Portugal has worried workers on low wages

womenatworkInternational body, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has drawn up a list of the worst countries in Europe in which to work - Portugal lies in fourth place due to high unemployment rates and low wages.

The OECD looked at wages, occupational safety and unemployment rates in showing that Portugal was marginally better than Greece, Spain and Turkey in a list of 36 countries led by Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.

The OECD report measured employment, long-term unemployment, job security, pay rates and job insecurity, or "fear of losing your job."

The average score obtained was 6.6 points. Greece came last with 1.5 points, Spain was surprisingly low at 2.4 points and lay behind Turkey with 3.8 points and Portugal with 4.1 points.

With high unemployment rates, Spain was the country where the "fear of losing their job" (17.8%) was more than triple the average (5.4%) of the 34 countries and more than double than of Portugal (8.6%).

Portugal's long-term unemployment rate has dragged it down the scale as it is triple (9.1%) the OECD average of 2.8%.

The per capita income in Portugal also scored low with the OECD average being €23,216 against Portugal’s €18,000.

"Also in Portugal there is a big difference between the richest and poorest - the most favoured 20% of the population earn almost six times more than the 20% most disadvantaged," read the OECD report.

As for other average incomes, Spain was not that much higher than Portugal at €20,590 with Italy at €25,806 and Germany and France at €28,000. Workers in the USA average €37,000 by comparison.

These results are not surprisng as Portugal remains a low wage economy due to wasted opportunities to industrialise and take full advantage of European union membership. This, coupled with the current high unemployment rate and general job insecurity through the long recession, has left the country low on the OECD scale.

The report did not look at self-employment or business start-ups, two areas where Portugal has been expanding, but for low paid manual workers the prospects remain bleak with the new 2016 Socialist budget showing little kindness to those trying to run a household, run a car or to use credit.

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Comments  

0 #4 Mhyaaa 2018-02-19 10:52
And that is why I left to live in sweden. Fortunately I have a home in Algarve which I take my holidays but it's insanity to live and work there.
0 #3 SMaria 2017-07-29 04:01
Portuguese companies pay minimum salary (557 euros) even to educated people. They are hired as interns to do qualified work. You need around 800-1000 euros to make a decent life in Portugal, at least. These interns don't stay on the companies. Other interns are hired after a year or so. Those previous ones go to unemployment. Other jobs have one day contracts. People stay with parents until age of 30 and more. Or emigrate. No way to make a decent living unless you're outstanding or come from a upper-mid class family at least. You need to know influential people in political parties or companies (which obviously is is not accessible to working class people). If you are older than 35 years old you don't even get a internship. After 40 it is very unlikely you will get any decent job. Some jobs don't give access to unemployment benefit. This is just a tip of the iceberg to let you know how awful it is here in Portugal.
-6 #2 Dierdre 2016-02-09 10:34
Much of what the OECD reports on is useful - but what actual primary data lies behind this particular one?

Given that citizens in the less socially developed countries are not accustomed to answer questionnaires or comfortable with questioners - how many workers actually fed their comments into this? How much was alternately supplied by Government Ministries?

Based on what ? University business research in countries like Portugal is historically very weak and usually leans heavily on more developed countries which have the longer established routine of official data collection. Then 'extrapolating it' here on the often wildly wrong assumption that "we Portuguese" are like more developed country x.
-4 #1 Chip 2016-02-08 22:21
Interesting that the top two countries, Switzerland and Norway, are both outside the EU.

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