Economist Susana Peralta admits worsening material and social deprivation

Economist and researcher Susana Peralta admitted that the evolution of poverty brings a worsening of material and social deprivation, a consequence of the inflationary crisis.

In an interview with the Lusa agency, regarding the release of the annual report “Portugal, Balanço Social 2022”, the researcher, who is one of the authors of the document, explained that there are two types of poverty measures, one linked to income, the other linked to material and social deprivation.

the measure of income-related poverty it has to do with all the people who live below the poverty line, and who corresponds to 60% of the median income per adult equivalent of each country, which, in Portugal, around 600 euros.

On the other hand, the measure of deprivation, said Susana Peralta, “measures people’s consumption more directly”for example, if they manage to meet an unexpected expense, manage to buy new clothes, go on vacation, keep the house warm or have weekly meals with protein.

In the researcher’s opinion, in this type of measure the inflationary crisis will obviously make itself felt.

“What I anticipate for the data for the years 2022 will be an aggravation of this type of deprivation, because that is when we can measure consumption activities”, he admitted, referring to the data that the National Institute of Statistics will release. for 2022 on the living conditions of the Portuguese, taking into account that the report “Portugal, Balanço Social 2022” concerns the years 2020 and 2021.

With regard to the measure of income, Susana Peralta said “it is not obvious” what impact an inflationary crisis like the one the country is experiencing could have, since the job market “has held up reasonably” and ” unemployment is one of the great determinants of poverty”.