The protection rate in Portugal is positive when compared with the rest of Europe | Real
one sentence
“If we compare it to the rest of Europe, the rate is positive in the European ranking, but that doesn’t mean it covers all people.”
Minister Ana Mendes Godinho, to the PUBLIC
Context
On the 1st of September the daycare centers reopened, with a new modality of free of charge aimed at children who were born on or after the 1st of September 2021. January 2023 also to private daycare centers, for children who had not been proven to find a place in the social and solidarity sector.
However, many families can benefit from this measure, they are still unable to take advantage of it, who can no longer find places in the social and already solidary. In other words, the coverage rate of these spaces — available for all children up to 3 years old — is still much lower than the required places. It was in connection with this lack of vacancies that the minister said that the national coverage rate has been rising and that, in the European context, it is positive.
the facts
ONE Social Charter, the latest data refer to 2020, refer to the coverage rate of daycare centers in Portugal (ratio places/no. of existing children) is 48.8%. The Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security refers to the guarantee of Eurostat data by Ana Mendes Godinho. These data refer to children under 3 years old who are enrolled in day care centers annually, and who attend it for one hour or more per week. according to Eurostat, in 020, the estimated rate of children with this condition in the European area was 36.9%. In Portugal they are 53%.
The indicator treated in the Euro is not exactly the same as éstat in the Social Charter — coverage rate. The same is true of data from the OECD, which also uses children’s enrollment in daycare centers. Data from a 2021 report, with data from references to 2018 and including children aged 0-2, indicating children inclusion of children in Portugal was 39.7%, the OECD average was 36.1% and the European Union 33 .9%.
Source of the Observatory of Families and Family Policies, contacted by PÚBLICO, says that the coverage rate difficult to calculate, with nuances, reflects the OECD and Eurostat indicators that refer to what is here called a “rate” of children enrolled” (registration feein English) are the ones commonly used to make comparisons in terms of the coverage rate.
In short
Analyzing the existing data, the minister spoke the truth.