Workplace poverty in Portugal worries Catholic charity

Poverty in the workplace in Portugal has become a "transversal problem", according to a report released by the Catholic charity Caritas here on Thursday.

"Austerity measures raised new challenges and weakened the pillars of active inclusion in Portugal," the document reads, pointing out that the new faces of poverty include middle-class families.

These new forms of poverty are due to unemployment and salary cuts and, tax hikes, a rise of temporary work and many employees not being covered by social security, according to the report.

The report on the human costs of the crisis in Portugal points out that from 2010 to 2013 the number of poverty-stricken workers in Portugal rose from 9.7 percent to 10.5 percent.

"In Portugal, employees are badly paid and temporary contracts have risen, especially in big companies," the document states.

The network claims that poverty is most troubling in rural areas of Portugal, where job opportunities are scarce and where problems arise, like alcoholism and drug abuse.

It is increasingly common for youth in rural areas to start working earlier due to dropping out of school. Low education qualifications mean employees have a "greater exposure to risk of poverty in the workplace," the report says.

However, the network also points out that young people with higher educational background are also affected by poverty because they are often forced to accept lowly paid jobs, which don't correspond with their qualifications.

Caritas says most of these employees don't have a regular work contract and do not have access to social benefits or unemployment benefits.

Portugal has faced a dramatic increase of unemployment and many people in the past years have had to turn to charities for support.

The debt-ridden country signed a 78-billion-euro(85.45 billion U.S. dollars) bailout in 2011 with international creditors when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. In return, Portugal took measures which included tax hikes and cutting public spending and salaries to reach its deficit targets.

The Portuguese anti-austerity Socialist government says it is turning over a new leaf, despite European Union pressure. The government, backed by the Left Bloc and Portuguese Communist Party, recently approved a budget for 2016 which intends to refund salary cuts to civil employees and rise pensions.

Portugal's debt sits at around 130 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It closed 2015 with a public deficit of 4.2 percent and economic growth of 1.5 percent. The European Commission has told Portugal to rethink its program, predicting that growth will be 1.6 percent for 2016. Enditem