The future Single Social Benefit will bring new rules for those who receive social support and are of working age, without work and able to work. The measure aims to simplify the system, but also associate access to support for fulfilling duties linked to employment, training and participation in social solidarity activities.
According to , anyone who unjustifiably refuses job offers, employment considered convenient, professional training or social work may be prevented from receiving the Single Social Benefit for two years. The measure appears in the request for legislative authorization sent by the Government to Parliament.
Support will bring together several installments
The Single Social Benefit, known as PSU, must bring together several non-contributory social supports. Among them are Bolsa Família and unemployment insurance. According to the government, the creation of the PSU was approved by the Council of Ministers and intends to aggregate 13 non-contributory social benefits in a single response, with common rules and simpler access for families in situations of insufficient income.
The new support will depend on the income of the beneficiary and the respective family group. But, for those of working age and without work, access will also depend on fulfilling obligations associated with job search and social integration.
Who will have to comply with these rules
Obligations should not cover all beneficiaries in the same way. According to information released by the Government, they only apply to people of working age, without work and with the ability to work. Among the conditions provided for are registration at a job center, availability to accept employment deemed suitable, participation in professional training and carrying out social solidarity activities.
This last point has been referred to as social work. According to information already known, pensioners and children are excluded from this type of obligation, as they are not covered by the duty to work.
Unjustified refusal can block support
The heaviest consequence arises when there is an unjustified refusal on the part of the benefit holder. According to CNN Portugal, in these cases the beneficiary may lose the right to PSU for 24 months. If the refusal comes from another member of the household, that member may be excluded from support for 12 months. Even so, your income will continue to be considered when calculating the value attributed to the household.
In practice, this means that the person stops counting for the purposes of determining the benefit, but the money they receive continues to weigh on their Social Security accounts. This rule may reduce the final value attributed to the family.
Young people between 18 and 25 years old will have their own rules
The proposal also provides specific conditions for young people between 18 and 25 years old who do not study or work. In these cases, access to the PSU may depend on availability to carry out additional hours of social solidarity activities.
The logic presented by the Government involves linking provision to activation, training and community participation mechanisms. The declared objective is to prevent support from functioning solely as a monetary transfer, also associating it with integration pathways. Even so, the concrete application of these rules will depend on the final diploma and the way in which concepts such as unjustified refusal, convenient employment and social solidarity activities are defined.
Value will be based on the IAS
The reference value of the new benefit must be linked to the Social Support Index. Currently, the IAS is set at 537.25 euros in 2026, according to Social Security. The final benefit to be received by each family will depend on income, family composition and the rules that are approved. The Government has presented the PSU as a way to make the system simpler and reduce the dispersion of support.
Jornal de Notícias says that the benefit should replace various supports and create a more uniform regime for non-contributory social benefits, although the measure still depends on the legislative process.
Measure is not yet fully in force
Although the proposal has already been approved by the Council of Ministers, the Single Social Benefit still depends on the parliamentary process and the publication of the final diploma. The Government approved the proposal for legislative authorization to proceed with the creation of the PSU by decree.
Therefore, the rules known so far are the result of the proposal presented and the information provided by the Government and the media. Only the final diploma will allow all details to be confirmed, including exceptions, deadlines, procedures and forms of evaluation of refusals.
Even so, the political orientation of the measure is already clear: the new Single Social Benefit intends to combine support in a single mechanism, but also impose duties on beneficiaries of working age. Anyone who refuses social work, employment deemed convenient or professional training without justification may be left without access to support for a prolonged period.
Also read:
