Portugal and Emigration
When the younger adults leave...
I recently wrote a post on why Portugal is unlikely to change its immigration policies. In response one reader commented:
I would not discourage anyone from coming to Portugal out of fears of changes in immigration policy. But, I'm also getting tired of reading fantasy posts on certain Facebook groups that portray Portugal as some kind of magical land of milk and honey where everyone gets along all the time and there are no social problems.
He is correct, Portugal is not immune to social problems. So let’s discuss one of the challenges facing Portugal today … emigration.
2,081,419 Emigrants
According to WorldPopulationReview.com, over 2 million Portuguese have left their country. The vast majority are young and are moving to another EU country. They are also educated … looking for better professional opportunities and salaries. This trend was first noted after the 2008/9 financial crisis. EuroFound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, reported on the trends in 2016:
Portugal has the highest emigration rate as a proportion of population in the European Union. More than two million Portuguese people (20% of the population) now live outside the country. It is estimated that more than 485,000 workers left Portugal between 2011 and 2014 to seek better living and working conditions. The demographics have changed recently, with a greater proportion of emigrants having higher qualifications. — WorldPopulationReview.com
The fact that over the past ten years, these emigrants are younger and better educated is a significant cause of concern. First is the issue of birth rate which has continued to fall, and the median age of the population which has continued to rise. The second is what is often called brain drain.
Since 2008, more than 20,000 skilled individuals have left the country seeking work (against 8,000 in 2007). The health sector is particularly affected, given the high numbers of nurses and, more recently, physicians emigrating to escape unemployment, lack of career opportunities and job insecurity. — Oem
A Troubling Headlines
Recently I happened upon this troubling headline:
Almost 2,500 Portuguese nurses seek leave to emigrate since start of pandemic - PortugalResident.com
Your reaction to this headline may be: but it’s only 2,500 nurses…we know many hospital nurses have gotten burned out and sought other employment opportunities since Covid. Yes, that is correct. But keep in mind two things. These nurses are not leaving the profession … they intend to practice in another country. And second:
Just in the last year (2021) the total number of nurses who have shown their intention to emigrate corresponds to roughly a third of the new nurses annually trained by Portuguese schools. — PortugalResident.com
The issue is simply one of the wages. While not all the salary comparison sites agree on the exact amount, the fact is that Portuguese nursing salaries are the fifth-worst in the EU. One site reports the following average monthly salaries for a registered nurse:
Portugal 1233€
France 1820€
Spain 2350€
Germany 2468€
This has led Portugal to fall behind other EU nations with only 6.7 nurses per 100,000 residents, while the EU average is over 8.
So the reader's comment is correct. Portugal is faced with many challenges, but among the most significant is this one. I am often told, “Portugal is not a rich country”. So I wonder as the government weighs priorities and works to pass a budget…what policies and practices can be put in place to boost salaries so Portugal can keep its best and its brightest?
Thank you for this very thought-provoking (eye opening!) essay. I was aware of the exodus seeking better jobs, but unaware that the medical profession is so adversely affected as well. As a recent "immigrant" (retired 'merican) it has become much more clear just what are the consequences of this poor pay scale. It has become obvious to me that there is a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots of the longtime "native population", due to factors like the endemic hierarchical status from property and inheritance laws, as well as lack of social mobility in general. This disparity is no doubt exacerbated more and more by the influx of "foreigners and foreign money" through globalization of economies in general. This is the story of so many places in the world, and there is no easy solution without addressing the fundamental inequality of wealth distribution worldwide. (witness the Russian oligarchy that is in the forefront these days!)
Reduce ministers, reduce cars and drivers for them, reduce official visits, congressmen, etc, etc. the government spends too much and then doesn’t have enough money to pay for what is really necessary.