The parliamentary group of the Socialist Party sent a new letter to the Government questioning the "potential limitations" on access to social protection implied by the new Single Social Allowance (PSU). The bench led by Eurico Brilhante Dias is concerned about possible restrictions on access to the benefit and the potential reduction of support guaranteed to some beneficiaries. The nine-page letter was sent to the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim.
The socialists warn that access to the PSU will be "much more limited" than provided for the subsidies it replaces, such as the unemployment social allowance and parental allowance. They question, for example, whether households with a working spouse may be excluded from the basic social safety net. Regarding the amounts, the PS emphasizes that today the unemployment social allowance is "almost always equivalent to 100% or 80% of the IAS", while the PSU will correspond to 50% of the IAS, which may represent significant losses for some families.
The PS also criticizes the requirement of social work from beneficiaries, namely the increase in availability time for those under 25 and for the majority of recipients from the third renewal onwards. Young people who neither work nor study, and have no disability, may have to complete up to 20 hours of social work to access the PSU, five hours
