The final debate of this meeting, moderated by journalist Emma Duncan, featured social security experts Bruno Palier and Joakim Palme.
Palme began by saying that the Portuguese pension system "is the star of Southern Europe, not least because of the «entry of women into the labour force». Palier, meanwhile, described the Portuguese social security model as «typical of Southern Europe, in that the share of support for pensioners is very high (for historical reasons) and little is left over to support children and the birth rate».
As far as possible, however, «the best approach to social security is to support children, get them to study more and live better. And to support women to participate more in the labour market.» Gender equality in the labour market is, in fact, «an unfinished revolution», said Joakim Palme.
Palier and Palme also pointed the finger at those who own a large share of capital and income in unequal countries like Portugal. «Those who receive higher salaries justify themselves by thinking that they work in a highly productive area and are more productive than others. But they should consider whether a significant portion of their productivity in fact comes from the support they get from other people who earn much less. Understood in that way, the importance of greater redistribution becomes clearer», said Bruno Palier.
Regarding capital, «if we want to tax it more to help finance social security, we'll have to act at the European level, cooperatively. And European countries in general are acting separately», lamented Joakim Palme.
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