In a hearing at the parliamentary committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, Catarina Marcelino, the vice-president of the Institute of Social Security (ISS), shared data for 2022 on immigrants who are net contributors to the social security system, specifying that the 630,000 workers who contributed 1,500 million euros represent 13 % of workers registered with Portuguese social security.

The head of the ISS, together with heads of the Tax Authority, the Foreigners and Borders Service, and the Authority for Working Conditions, was heard in parliament at a hearing requested by the PCP in the context of combating human trafficking and aiding illegal immigration for exploitation of immigrant workers.

Catarina Marcelino highlighted that “the evolution in the last seven years is very positive”, noting that since 2015 “the weight of workers with foreign nationality has increased from 3% to 13%”.

For the ISS vice-president, these data objectively show that “immigrants are an asset to the system and that they contribute positively to the sustainability of social security”.

However, she highlighted the cases of immigration, particularly from countries outside Europe, with "social vulnerabilities" for not speaking Portuguese, lack of social and family network, cultural decontextualization, lack of knowledge of the social organization and institutions of the host country and who are sometimes victims of labour exploitation and are at the mercy of situations of great need.


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