If, suddenly, three of the 10 million Portuguese that lives in Portugal decided to leave for abroad, this country would lose much more than 30% of the population. This country would lose almost the totality of the hope capital that each generation offers to the homeland where they live.
I resisted the temptation to title this article in a easy-way mode as “there’s no country for the youth”.
Although I know that is absolutely normal that is among the newest and the more qualified professionals that we find high percentages of potential emigrants.
Especially in a frame where the country doesn’t give any perspectives of fixation to the youth people, nor in “5 hundred euros generation” sale price, just an half of the amount that a brand new graduated in Spain gain.
I’m not exaggerating the numbers. The netemprego.gov.pt, a website from the Employment and Professional Instruct Institute, gives shelter to job offers for graduated people, with the promise of pay less than EUR 500/month.
Stories, like the 34-year-old man who spent several days camping in the so-called “the outraged camp”, in “Puertas do Sol”, Madrid, that gained the 1,3 million euros in a internet lottery, are rare stories and may even seem invented to divert attention. These stories aren’t plausible for those who believe that the future is made with our own hands.
Even in countries like Brasil, where the current unemployment rate is below the current rich countries or even the world average (at least in the case of large metropolitan areas), the reality is that the difficulty to enter in the labor market is increasing constantly, as Ignácio de Loyola Brandão, writer and journalist, said in a 2011 book that is a “brief overview” about the “first job”.
What is really in cause, as the Brandão’s editor said, “is restore to each and every young, each and every people, the right to win with their work, their leisure, their bread”. In their homeland, if it’s possible. Maybe it’s difficult, especially in Portugal, but no policy has the right to withdraw this goal.
Luís Lima
Presidente da APEMIP
luis.lima@apemip.pt
The original article was published on 1st July, in SOL Newspaper