Ninety-one per cent of Portuguese believe that levels of poverty have increased in the past 12 months.
According to statistics from the European Union statistical information service Eurobarometer, 46 per cent thought they were having problems paying household bills.
Between March 2010 and May 2010, the proportion of respondents who stated that they were struggling to keep up with bills and credit commitments or had fallen behind with payments had increased by six percentage points.
In Portugal, a high proportion of respondents said their economic fortunes had changed for the worse in terms of affordability of health and social care and 42 per cent said they expected their household’s situation to deteriorate during the next 12 months.
A gradually-increasing trend in the proportion of interviewees with money concerns was particularly noticeable in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Romania and the Czech Republic.
