Event description:

EAPN Portugal/Viana do Castelo is organising, in partnership with GEED (Gabinete de Estudos para a Educação e Desenvolvimento – Escola Superior de Educação/IPVC) the online MAP Talk “The Problem of Inequality” on the subject of AMR (Adequate Minimum Income).

For EAPN, it is essential to develop and promote a comprehensive and coherent approach to ensure that people have adequate resources to live with dignity throughout the life cycle, whether they are working or unemployed, especially in a difficult context.

The COVID-19 pandemic – proportionally hitting the poorest and most vulnerable people and their families – has made the need for adequate financial support for those who are unemployed or not covered by social protection as well as those who are unemployed or unable to work even more obvious and urgent.

All of these people are facing higher costs and urgently need adequate, affordable benefits that guarantee them a minimum income. The pandemic has also highlighted the vulnerability of atypical and precarious workers in Europe and around the world, including those on precarious contracts and seasonal workers. The need for quality jobs and employment with fair and adequate wages that enable a decent standard of living is, in this context, more obvious and urgent.

EAPN’s main demand for a Framework Directive on Adequate Minimum Income thus making it a legally binding commitment for all Member States and the call for an EU Framework for Fair Minimum Wages in the context of the proven failure of “EU soft law mechanisms” over the last two decades.