This Tuesday the Executive of the socialist António Costa has announced that from January 1, 2020 the minimum interprofessional salary in Portugal will become 635 euros per month, 35 euros more than the current 600, and 115 more than 580 euros charged when the prime minister rose to the government headquarters in 2015.

This is the fourth increase in the minimum wage in four years, and fits into the government strategy of gradual increases with which the Executive expects to reach the minimum wage goal of 750 euros per month before 2023.

The increase was revealed through a document that the Ministry of Labor delivered to trade unions and employers' confederations in which the Executive undertakes to carry out a "regular monitoring" of the impact of the rise through a system that will agree with the social agents.

The 635 euros announced by the Government exceed by 10 euros the proposal of the minimum salary of 625 euros that had the approval of three of the four employers' confederations : that of Industry, Tourism and Agriculture. It remains to be seen if the Executive will manage to convince the employer to accept the new value, which also does not have the express support of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, who consider that it is too far from the minimum of 690 euros proposed by the union.

Currently, one in five Portuguese citizens receives the minimum interprofessional salary. 20.1% of Portuguese workers - some 720,800 people - make their lives with the 600 euros they earn for each month of work; the actual amount they take home is less, just 534 euros, once the corresponding taxes are applied. One of the groups that depends most on this amount is that of workers with less than 25 years, 27% of whom survive with that minimum.

Despite the increases of the last four years, the Portuguese minimum wage remains one of the lowest in the European Union . Although it is not as small as that of Bulgaria - which stands at 286.3 euros per month - it barely accounts for just over a quarter of the 2071.10 euros received in Luxembourg.

In this respect, the neighboring country is surpassed by the United Kingdom, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Slovenia, Malta, and even Greece, where the minimum wage is 758.3 euros. However, the amount received in Lithuania, Estonia and Poland is smaller, while in Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden there is no statutory minimum wage.

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