Artur Lima highlights sustained decline in Social Integration Income indicators in the Azores - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-President of the Regional Government of the Azores, Artur Lima, stated that the Regional Government has adopted over the last year a "new approach of making the Social Integration Income credible through monitoring and awareness," stressing that "it is by making social support credible in the eyes of society that stigmas are fought."

At a press conference in Angra do Heroísmo regarding the evolution of the Azores Social Income (SII) indicators in the Region, Artur Lima referred that "making the Social Integration Income more credible is about making it a temporary solution and geared towards an integration policy."

According to the government official, it is urgent to draw up, in conjunction with each family, “professional and social insertion plans that are realistic and consistent” so that “these people may become less dependent, more autonomous and better integrated into society.”  

With regard to monitoring procedures, Artur Lima stated that "460 verification procedures were initiated in 2021 concerning households benefiting from the Social Integration Income."

"Among these, 387 procedures were concluded by December 31, 2021, and 25 were closed. As regards the concluded procedures, irregularities were found in 273 cases, corresponding to about 70% of the situations under analysis," he added.

Along with these monitoring activities, which have already been extended to all islands of the archipelago, the Vice-President of the Government recalled that “we have seen a sustained decline in the various indicators of this social benefit.”

According to data collected from a dynamic database by the Social Security Statistical System on January 10, 2022, reporting to December 2021, ‘there were 12.555 Social Integration Income beneficiaries in the Azores," this being the "lowest figure recorded since March 2005."

Among the 12.555 beneficiaries, "around 4.800 are children and young people up to the age of 18," which ‘represents 38% of the population of Social Integration Income beneficiaries in the Region’ in that month. 

Artur Lima also added that there was a "significant reduction of more than 1 million and 500 thousand Euros" in the annual amount allocated to the Social Integration Income in the Azores from 2020 to 2021.

At the end of his speech, the government official made it clear that the "poorest of the poor do not deserve to be mistreated and blamed for their poverty."

"Those who really need it should be supported, as long as they fulfil the requirements and honour their commitments towards the Region and their community," he concluded.