Portuguese Households on a Tightrope: Income Vulnerability during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cristina Matos

Review of Radical Political Economics, 2025, vol. 57, issue 1, 73-89

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese government implemented emergency fiscal measures to protect incomes. Despite these efforts, Portugal’s poverty rate increase in 2020 was the steepest among all European Union member states. The present article maintains that the prevailing labor market institutions limited the impact of the pandemic-related emergency measures. These institutions include social policies (such as low social benefits, minimum wages near the poverty line, and weak employment protection) as well as employment practices (such as precarious employment contracts and low wages). Established institutions increased households’ vulnerability to poverty and exacerbated the GDP/poverty nexus. JEL Classification : A120, B520, I380, N340.

Keywords: COVID-19; poverty; institutionalism; Portugal; contingent jobs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:57:y:2025:i:1:p:73-89

DOI: 10.1177/04866134241279080

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