The old-age social minima in Portugal: policy trajectory, trends and adequacy

The paper focuses on the old-age social minima in Portugal, considering the first layer of social protection in old age, that consists of the minimum pension of contributory system (MP), the social pension (SP) and the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly (SSE), two non-contributory social minima for the elderly. The Portuguese old-age social minimum are also composed by several additional supplements. The paper adopts, despite the use a statistical quantitative data, mainly, a qualitative approach following an historical institutionalism orientation. Two dimensions will be explored. Firstly, the policy trajectories of the old-age regime of social minima in Portugal, looking at the main drivers of the policy changes that occurred since their creation and the recent trends observed. Secondly, the features and the analysis of the patterns of adequacy proportioned by these different social minima, namely considering the UE poverty threshold and the Rendimento Adequado em Portugal (RAP) referential, a minimum income standard established according to the standard budget method.