Antônio Cotrim / LUSA
PS deputies during debate in the Assembly of the Republic
Single Social Benefit closer to moving forward. What changes in social support?
The Single Social Benefit (PSU) is closer to being approved, after the Government and the PS reached controversial points in the proposal.
The measure, presented as a reform of non-contributory social support, seeks to bring together, in a single mechanism, several currently dispersed benefits, simplifying rules, processes and evaluation of beneficiaries.
The understanding must guarantee the votes necessary for approval, with PS, PSD, CDS and Liberal Initiative to make the proposal viable in the specialty. The agreement became possible after the collapse of the reporting channel that the Government wanted to create to flag suspected fraud in access to social support — for socialists, this mechanism introduced a logic of suspicion regarding people in situations of poverty.
Despite political understanding, there are certain points of uncertainty. The main one concerns the social workwhich the PS states is no longer mandatory. The PSD parliamentary leader, Hugo Soares, maintains that the activity will not be optional, but defined according to the conditions of each beneficiary, within the scope of an individual insertion plan. The final formulation will be decisive in understanding whether it is an effective obligation or a measure adjusted case by case.
Social work is even the main focus of criticism. Parties on the left contest the idea of making the benefit conditional on social solidarity activities, seeing it as free work, stigmatizing beneficiaries or even a way of punishing poverty.
Also under discussion is the asset limit which will allow you to access the PSU. The government’s initial proposal set the ceiling at 30 times the Social Support Index, around R$16,114, including bank deposits and other movable assets. The PS defends a higher limit, of up to 60 IAS, approximately 32,227 euros, for the movable assets of the applicant and the household.
Among the benefits to be added are the Social Insertion Income, social unemployment benefit, social parental benefits, social old-age pension, social widowhood pension and orphan’s pension. Another criticism is that the PSU brings together support that responds to different situations and that this simplification can “distort” social rights designed for specific needs.
O PSU benchmark remains to be defined. The opposition criticized the fact that the process moves forward without knowing exactly what the base value will be, nor how it will be translated, in practice, for different aggregates and situations.
The Government argues that concentrating support on a single model will reduce bureaucracy, improve data crossing, avoid overlaps and facilitate access for those who need it.
With the agreement between the Government and PS, approval became likely. It remains to be seen in what final terms the new provision will be written and whether the promised simplification will translate into more protection or greater filtering of access.
