Poverty in Madeira - Did We Get It All Wrong?

PSD Member Claims Poverty in Madeira is a Misunderstood Reality

Paula Margarida (PSD Madeira), a lawyer and deputy in Portugal’s Assembly of the Republic, has contested statistics that label Madeira as one of the poorest regions in Portugal. Speaking at a conference on “Building Wealth to Combat Poverty” at the Church of the College, Margarida argued that these figures fail to reflect the true conditions of the autonomous region. She attributed much of the poverty to underlying social issues, including substance abuse, rather than structural economic failings.

I had people from the mainland here, and they told me: 'But, really, what misery is there here?' Sure, we see it; we have poor people, we have poor people on the streets, beggars, without a doubt, but it is a misery of the mind. We have families, certainly, where due to the parents' actions, they lose their housing, but the truth is that, one way or another, the solution eventually happens.

Paula Margarida - RTP Madeira

Deconstruct These Numbers?

Margarida went on and emphasized the importance of re-evaluating how poverty is measured in Madeira (!), cautioning against applying the same criteria used for mainland Portugal. “Yes, we have visible poverty, such as people living on the streets or families facing housing struggles, but these situations are often temporary,” she said, citing the region's tight-knit community and collaborative problem-solving efforts.

Attention, my friends, do not look at the autonomous region of Madeira with the poverty criteria used on the mainland

Paula Margarida - RTP Madeira

Middle-Class Struggles and Consumer Behavior

The lawyer from the governing party also addressed the challenges faced by Madeira's middle class, pointing to rising expenses that outpace wages. She highlighted cases where families struggle to afford higher education for their children on the mainland, despite the availability of scholarships and financial aid. Margarida warned of a tendency toward overconsumption, which can exacerbate financial difficulties.

Claim That Solutions Are Emerging

Margarida acknowledged that while housing shortages and financial stress persist, solutions are being implemented. She praised Madeira’s small size and strong community networks, which allow for quicker responses to crises, saying that we are a small region where everyone knows each other. This - according to her - creates synergies and teamwork that help us resolve issues over time.

Whitewashing Systemic Problems

While Paula Margarida’s defense of Madeira’s economic conditions brings attention to the region's resilience, dismissing its poverty statistics as inaccurate oversimplifies a complex issue. Economic data consistently positions Madeira as one of Portugal’s poorest regions, highlighting systemic problems that cannot be entirely attributed to substance abuse or individual choices. Income disparities, limited employment opportunities, and high costs of living, particularly in a region heavily reliant on tourism, suggest deeper structural issues. Needless to say that the drug issue in Madeira is a problem but so it is elsewhere and statistics naturally need to be unified and meet common standards to even have any value.

Source: RTP Madeira