More people with HE are seeking aid due to poverty – NGO

More and more people with higher education are appealing for help due to poverty, AMI (Portugal’s international medical assistance foundation) warned on Wednesday 10 May, noting that “very low salaries” do not allow them to cope with their needs, reports Lusa News Agency.

“Worrying numbers of people are already starting to appear here who actually have more advanced schooling, a higher level of literacy. Even people who took higher education and then they can’t find something that is compatible with their training, or else, they can, but with very low wages,” the director of AMI at the Porta Amiga Centre in Chelas, Lisbon, told Lusa.

According to Salomé Marques, people mainly ask for food goods. “The conspicuous [request] is food. [People] come to the centre (…) with this need. But then, in an office environment, we realise that, besides food, there’s a whole series of very broad needs – water, electricity, gas, rent, medication and, sometimes, exams that the national health service doesn’t pay for,” she stressed. The official also pointed out that the non-governmental organisation (NGO) has received more requests for help with psychological support.
Full report on the MacauBusiness.com site