In a joint hearing of the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee, and the Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Committee at the request of the Socialist Party, Secretary of State for Social Security, Susana Filipa Lima, acknowledged that complaints had emerged in August from “several citizens and associations, stating that the allocation of the Caregiver Support Allowance was penalizing families in some social benefits, particularly family allowances.”
In response to the deputies, the Secretary of State explained that when the government was confronted with this issue, it issued “guidance to suspend the reassessment of resource conditions to prevent more citizens from being impacted than those already affected.”
The official further indicated that Social Security did not provide “prior communication” on this situation but emphasized that efforts are being made to adopt a more proactive stance to avoid “negative surprises for people when similar situations occur.”
The government’s survey, conducted “in August of this year,” revealed that approximately 1,600 beneficiaries had their family allowances recalculated.
“The allocation of family allowances, as well as other social benefits, including the caregiver support allowance itself, is subject to the verification of resource conditions, regulated by a specific decree, Decree-Law No. 70/2010. For this purpose, family income includes, among others, work income, capital income, pensions, and also other social benefits,” she explained.
However, according to the Secretary of State, “what happens is that by being included in the solidarity subsystem, the informal caregiver support allowance is not covered” by the exceptions stipulated in the law that exclude support from the scope of income, and thus the allowance “is counted as income.”
Filipa Lima also stated that the government is committed to resolving the issue through legislative changes “as soon as possible.”
