Minimum Income in Portugal: Changing the Rules in Times of Crisis

Carlos Rodrigues

No 2012/05, Working Papers Department of Economics from ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to estimate the impact on the distribution of household income and poverty of the 2010 reform of the law that establish the non-contributory social benefits entitlement conditions in Portugal, with particular incidence in the Social Integration Income (RSI). Carried out in a period of serious deepening economic and social crisis, the changes in the resources condition appear fundamentally as a way of limiting and reducing the resources earmarked for social policies usage, precisely at the time when increased social insecurity should lead to a significant increase in the importance of such social policies. Using micro-data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), we simulate the impact of the reform and estimate its effects on the income distribution and on different dimensions of monetary poverty. The change in the size of government expenditure required to finance these programs will also be estimated.

Keywords: Social Policy; Income Distribution; Inequality; Poverty Alleviation; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 I32 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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More papers in Working Papers Department of Economics from ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa Department of Economics, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua do Quelhas 6, 1200-781 LISBON, PORTUGAL.
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