Social integration income. Contributions to the understanding of a benefit as a last resort

Social Integration Income (RSI) is a last resort benefit intended to provide some protection to the very poor. Although it receives considerable attention in the public sphere, this social benefit is not always discussed in an informed manner. This text begins by legally framing this benefit and analyzes relevant statistical information, at the national and municipal levels, regarding the social profile of its beneficiaries, its duration, and its amount. The analysis concludes that approximately one-third of RSI beneficiaries are minors living in very poor households. Although most adult beneficiaries of this benefit are unemployed, about 11% earned income from work. In some municipalities, this figure exceeds 20%. The average duration of RSI receipt in 2019 was 34 months, a consistently higher value in the municipalities of the Porto Metropolitan Area and lower in the border municipalities of Alto Minho, Beiras, some municipalities in the Oeste region, and the central axis of the Algarve and Alentejo regions. Among the ten municipalities in the country that register the highest number of RSI (Social Integration Income) beneficiaries per 1000 working-age inhabitants, six belong to the island of São Miguel. The RSI reference value has been moving away from the value determined for the poverty threshold in Portuguese society (around 37%, in the case of adults living alone). This means that the situation of RSI beneficiaries has been deteriorating within the overall poor population in Portugal.

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