A new sociological term to classify families who are considered too rich to get State benefits, but too poor to reach the end of the month without experiencing great difficulties making ends meet was announced this week.
‘Sandwich Families’, as they are termed, are those who have at least one parent employed but earn between 379 and 799 euros per month, according to a new in-depth study from Lisbon’s ISCTE (Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa).
These families make up 31 per cent of the country’s ‘almost poor’, who are sandwiched between those who are unemployed, or living on or below the bread line, and those who, despite difficulties, can still have a reasonable standard of living.
According to the study, the majority of these people live in urban areas, are freelance or independent workers, many on Green Receipts and for whom a visit to the cinema or purchasing a novel is already a luxury.
The study aimed to understand how various groups in Portugal survive, particularly those on casual or part-time work, the self-employed and the recently retired.
Fifty-four families were interviewed, of which one-fifth had difficulties paying household bills, 12 per cent didn’t have enough money to buy vital medicine while 21 per cent was unable to meet unexpected expenses.
The study found that those with qualifications were just as likely to be living on the limits of poverty, with several academics living on successive yet temporary study grants with no firm contract in sight.
“In general, these people spent more time studying than their parents, have more qualifications but are nevertheless in a socially downward trajectory. Others who are in work fear that they won’t have the financial capacity to provide their children with the necessary educational start in life,” states the report published on Monday.
According to the investigators, the cases observed confirmed the need to end labour regimens that encourage poverty such as ‘Green Receipts’ where freelance services are repeatedly bought in from a service provider without any full-time or part-time contract in sight.
