On top of the services considered essential by consumers, according to Deco, it is electricity, followed by water, gas and telecommunications. Only then comes the food and health.

It increased the rate of effort of over-indebted households, which reaches 72%. An average salary of thousand euros, 700 euros are to pay the monthly installments, the Deco reveals a new statistical bulletin.

In the first nine months of this year, 26,000 families with financial difficulties asked for help from the support office over-indebted consumer protection association. They are middle-class families, who have lost income in the years of the troika.

Every day, on average, nearly 100 people knocking on the door of the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection because they can not pay their expenses. More than half are employed, but the money is not enough for everything, because they have several loans to pay, says Natalia Nunes, office coordinator in support of the over-indebted.

“Of these families who ask us for help, 59% are working in the private sector or the public sector. Just found that 26% are unemployed and 15% are retired. We are talking about families who once belonged to the middle class and that when they had higher incomes allowed them to access credit, and, as a rule, have several loans but were however confronted with the significant decrease in their income, “he explains.

As for the priorities identified by consumers, Deco was surprised with the data that was found. As an example, telecommunications, which lie ahead of the feed. On top of the services considered essential by consumers is electricity, followed by water, gas and telecommunications. Only then comes the food and health.

The situation for these families is not improving. On the one hand, the number of requests for help is identical to the 2014 but on the other, the majority are families living with one or two minimum national wages per month.

The indebtedness of the causes are also changing: in 2013, unemployment was the main cause (35%) of the GAS requests for help, but in 2014 became the salary reductions (33%) and in 2015 the unemployment and deterioration working conditions are equally (29% each).

But this year there is a new third cause, with a 12% weight, which is related to the decrease in income due to attachment of property or income reduction.

“In the early 2000s, when the DECO began to support the over-indebted, the attachment was not even a cause for the difficulties. But with the crisis develops began to emerge as a cause and this year already is 12%,” said Natalia Nunes.

[Source]