The president of the Economic and Social Council (CES), Francisco Assis, defended the need for universal birth rate public policies that apply to all families, stressing that “the family allowance must be for all people.”
There are cultural reasons for falling birth rates, but there are also economic and social factors. There is a very serious housing problem in Portugal in different ways, it can be through the public offer, through cooperatives, through the private offer, and it can and should be through the conjunction of these three possibilities, but There has to be a response to this dramatic situation in metropolitan areas that makes people not even form a family, much less have children,” said Francisco Assis.
The president of the CES, who participated via online at the conference “Post-Pandemic, Recovery and Resilience of the Social Pillar in a year of decentralization of powers” held in Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Porto district, he argued that “The family allowance should be for everyone”.
“Public policies to support the birth rate must be separated from specific policies to combat inequality and poverty because there must be other instruments for this. The childbirth support policy is universal in nature. there must be marks [de abono de família] for families from the second child. Special attention must be paid to large families,” said Francisco Assis.
In a speech marked by the conviction that “without economic growth it is not possible to guarantee the welfare state”, the president of the CES spoke of the importance of raising the average salary.
“We cannot be satisfied with the current situation. We have to find ways improve productivity at work. Improve the organization at work, invest in education and innovation”, she said, adding that the reinforcement of competitiveness should result in a “fairer” salary distribution.
Francisco Assis began his speech by recalling that he intends to promote “a profound reform” in the CES, through a reform of the Law, something that “will have to happen in the Assembly of the Republic”, for which he intends to speak with all the parties politicians, he announced.
“This reform has to be done in the Assembly of the Republic. CES celebrates 30 years and changes need to be made. One of them has to do with the social economy, which plays a decisive role in driving economic activity. The social economy gives a different and better answer. She is more grounded and knows the community,” she said.
Source: Observadora
