A stark report released by consumer association DECO has shown that half the number of families with young children in Portugal today are living in states of “financial suffocation”.
Portugal is the “EU country that has most lost earnings in four years of austerity”, leaving hundreds of thousands of people unable to pay their day-to-day expenses.
A report aired on RTP television this morning said half the country’s families live on less than €1,000 per month, and are faced with cutting back on food and medication in order to survive.
The DECO study, started a year ago, shows that Portugal is suffering more than any other EU country hit by the politics of austerity.
Study coordinator Carlos Morgado told RTP that in comparison to countries like Spain, Italy and Belgium, Portugal has come off worst, with the greatest drop in earnings and the most accentuated deterioration of spending power.
