SOCIAL PROTECTION AND PRECARITY IN PORTUGAL: profiles and representations

This article examines the social representations shared by precarious workers regarding the social security system in Portugal. It explores the hypothesis that the precaritization of work, exacerbated during the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, has reshaped the meanings attributed to social protection in employment, especially for vulnerable workers. Drawing on content analysis of 53 in-depth interviews conducted between September 2019 and December 2020 with workers from various sectors, the study identifies distinct profiles of social unprotection in contexts of labor precarity. These profiles reveal representations marked by ambiguities and contradictions, resulting in divergent evaluations of public support and differing projections about the future of social protection. The findings suggest that precarious workers in Portugal are revaluing the social function of the social security system and advocating for broader coverage to mitigate the insecurity and instability caused by labor precarity.

Workers; Portugal; Precarity; Social Protection; Vulnerabilities