In front of the Hospital de Santa Maria in northern Lisbon, Isabel strode hurriedly through the patients on her way to the parking lot. With dark circles under her eyes, her hair in disarray and carrying several bags, this 38-year-old surgeon, who prefers to remain anonymous, headed home to change her clothes before leaving to supplement her salary by working at a private clinic. "I work 40 hours a week in this public hospital for just €2,000 a month, after taxes, even though I did a six-year specialization in surgery. That's not enough to live decently, if only because you can no longer find accommodation in Lisbon for €1,300 a month," she explained, unable to hide her anger and fatigue with the difficult context of a nursing shortage. "I also have to pay for childcare for my two daughters. And the price of food keeps going up. So I also work five hours a week in a private clinic, not counting the operations I perform in my 'spare' time. In total, I work 60 hours a week to earn €4,000 per month, after taxes."
In February, Statistics Portugal reported on the number of Portuguese citizens who hold two or even three jobs simultaneously. In 2023, there were more than 250,000 (out of 5 million working-age adults, i.e., 5 %). This record number stands out against economic indicators that, at first glance, look consistently strong: a growth rate of 2.3% in 2023, a national debt reduced to below 100% of gross domestic product much sooner than expected and an unemployment rate limited to 6.5% of the working population. More than half of them are university graduates.
But it's among the least educated that job growth is the greatest. Marcia Alvaro, 42, from Brazil, is both a cleaner for tourist accommodations and a carpenter. Diego, who didn't want to give his last name, drives cars for the digital platform Bolt and also delivers pharmaceutical products.
In the streets of Lisbon, crowded with tourists – but also wealthy expatriates, American and European digital nomads and Russian oligarchs – the inequalities are increasingly striking, reflecting a two-speed economy. On the one hand, the Portuguese capital has climbed from 20th to 8th place in the Barnes City Index 2024, which ranks the cities that attract the most ultra-rich buyers looking to invest in luxury real estate.
On the other hand, three out of four Portuguese families had trouble paying their bills in 2023, according to the consumer advocacy organization Deco Proteste, which released its annual report on Wednesday, March 20. According to its survey of 7,000 people on the burden of food, education, housing, transportation, health and leisure costs, 75% of households in Portugal experienced difficulty, and 7% are in a "critical" situation. Unsurprisingly, it's the housing crisis – sharp rises in rents for tenants and interest rates for homeowners – that is causing the main problems.
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