On a positive front, the annual UNCIEF Child Mortality report stated that Portugal has once again been confirmed as having one of the lowest rates in the world.
According to the research, Portugal has reduced its rate by 76 percent in the past 25 years, improving from a death rate of 15 children per 1,000 inhabitants aged under five, to just four in 2015.
This year’s report uses 1990 as the reference year for comparative purposes and found that Portugal boasts extremely positive indicators for child health and well-being, which continue to outstrip most countries, both developed and under-developed.
The UNICEF list is topped by Luxembourg, Iceland and Finland, with a mortality rate of two, while Portugal is grouped alongside countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands.
However, not all areas of social significance appear to be heading in the right direction.
The Global AgeWatch Index 2015 this week ranked Portugal as the third worst country in Western Europe in terms of social and economic well-being for people aged over 60, being topped only by Malta and Greece.
Worldwide, Portugal ranks “moderately” in the Index at 38th, with researchers stating the best places for the elderly in Western Europe are Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Germany.
The Index found that older people in Portugal have been substantially affected by austerity measures imposed by the government over recent years.
Despite having universal pension coverage, “the poverty rate in old age is still high at 7.8 percent”, the report argues.
Since 2010, when pensions were cut by 3.5 percent to as much as 40 percent, pensioners lost around 628 million euros per year.
Apart from the new taxation (known as Extraordinary Solidarity Contribution), the new legal framework for retirement will continue to have a significant impact on older people’ income security, researchers said.
“Record levels of unemployment, in particular among young adults, have also put extra pressure on pensioners, whose support to the younger generations, who have also been hit hard by the financial crisis, has increased since the beginning of the economic crisis”, the report continues.
Meanwhile, the cost of living has soared for older people who are affected by the revision of the rental market law, or feel the consequences of the withdrawal of the monthly public transport subsidies in cities like the capital Lisbon.
A new regulation approved in December 2014 has also started to affect the prices of old people’s homes.
While the health sector has not been spared austerity measures, the National Health Service (SNS) is still a strong pillar that provides affordable and good quality health services that the vast majority of Portuguese people count on.
However, austerity measures have led to deteriorationin care such as with cancer patients in isolated rural areas that are forced to stop treatment due to cuts in the health service transport budget.
The reduction in the number of hospital beds has also been significant. Portugal has 3.4 beds per one thousand inhabitants, far lower than the EU average of 5.2.
The report further states that “Portugal also falls behind the European average when comparing health indicators such as hip or knee replacement surgery. In both cases the number of procedures is half the average of the EU.”
According to the most recent OECD data, Portugal has the third highest unemployment rate for workers aged 55-64 years old, at 13.5 percent in 2014.
Unemployment rates among older workers have more than doubled since 2008, when unemployment for this group was 6.6 percent.
Researchers also lament that there are very few initiatives to promote the developing capacities of older people.
In 2012, the Portuguese government reduced the subsidised public transport fares for senior citizens. Six months after the cut, the company responsible for the management of the public transport system in the greater Lisbon area reported that 41,000 older people had stopped buying the subsidised monthly pass.
The Index further laments that the overall quality of public transport has also deteriorated.
“Reduced service frequency has led to more crowded buses and fewer seats available, making bus trips nearly impossible for many older people.”
The report on the country also highlighted that “older Portuguese people are often victims of scams and various kinds of violence, coupled with the proliferation of illegal nursing homes, which often do not have specialised workers or adequate space, is becoming a huge issue in Portugal. Estimates suggest that around 20,000 older people are living in 3,000 illegal nursing homes throughout the country.”
The report also uses a recent survey to reveal that the number of elderly living in isolation continues to rise, and is now standing at almost 40,000, up almost ten percent on 2014.