Minimum unemployment benefit to be near €505 under draft 2021 budget
The minimum unemployment benefit in Portugal is next year to rise to around €505 from the current €438.81.
Portugal’s minimum unemployment benefit is next year to rise to around €505 from the current €438.81, according to a preliminary version of the draft state budget for 2021, which is to be debated in parliament from the end of this month.
“Without prejudice to the limits on the amounts of unemployment benefit, provided for in Decree-Law no. 220/2006, of 3 November, as currently worded, in situations where the remuneration on which the calculation of unemployment benefit is based corresponds at least to the national minimum wage, the unemployment benefit is increased so as to reach the minimum value corresponding to 1.15 of IAS” or Social Support Index – the benchmark used to calculate welfare benefits – reads the document, which Lusa has seen.
The current minimum for unemployment benefit is in line with the IAS itself, unless the net value of the reference salary is below that amount. This year the IAS is €438.81, which multiplied by 1.15 implies a minimum unemployment benefit of just under €505; however, the IAS is updated annually based on inflation and gross domestic product.
The draft budget was due to be submitted to parliament on Monday for a first reading on October 28. The final vote on the document is scheduled for November 26.
