A new survey by the National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals ethnic-racial inequalities in education, labour status, housing, and experience of discrimination in Portugal. According to the Survey on the Life Conditions, Origins and Trajectories of the Resident Population – ICOT (INE, 2023), the adult population in Portugal who identifies as Roma or black suffers around 4 and 3 times more discrimination, respectively, than the self-identifying white population, whilst presenting lower proportions of higher education schooling (about 26 times less for Roma people and 2 times less for black people, compared to the white population).
The ICOT survey, promoted by INE and developed within the Work Group for the Census 2021 on Ethnic-Racial Questions, set out to “know the size of each ethnic groups which the resident population in Portugal identifies itself with, and allow for its characterization” (INE; 2023, p. 29). The survey was applied to individuals from 18 to 74 years of age who resided in Portugal for at least one year (or whose intention of residency was of at least one year) in all national territory, between January and August 2023, to a sample of 21.608 people. The preliminary results were made available to the public in the last quarter of 2023 and constituted the first representative ethnic-racial (self)characterization data ever collected by the Portuguese State.
Firstly, a heterogenous national reality stands out in this survey regarding the ethnic-racial identifications adopted by individuals. Estimates point to around 1,2 million resident adults self-identifying as something other than white (or other ethnicities besides white), representing about 16% of the adult population. Within these, 262,3 thousand mention having a mixed origin or belonging whilst 169,2 thousand self-identify as black, 56,6 thousand as Asian, and 47,5 thousand as Roma.
From the sociodemographic indicators for the various ethnic groups, we begin by highlighting the inequalities found in degree of schooling (figure 1). Whilst in the majority ethnic group (white) 45,4% of adults claim to have completed at most the 9th grade (lower secondary education – ISCED 2), this number reaches an astounding 91,8% (+46,4 p.p.) for Roma people and 49,7% (+4,3 p.p.) for black people; on the contrary, people who self-identify as having mixed or Asian origins most frequently present a secondary or post-secondary school degree – respectively, 42,5% e 36,3% (+14,2 p.p. e + 8 p.p.), against only 28,3% of the white population. However, the educational “advantage” of mixed-origin individuals is not verified for higher education degrees, since only 23,1% completed this level of education, against 26,3% of white people (-3,2 p.p.), whilst people of Asian origins surpass white individuals in completing higher education (30%, +3,7 p.p.). The disadvantage grows dramatically amongst Roma adults, given that those surveyed by ICOT that had completed secondary or higher education were so residual that it did not allow for reliable estimates. Black adults also present a lower proportion of individuals with higher education compared to the white ethnic group (15,6%, -10,7 p.p.).
Concerning labour status, we see a greater prevalence of unemployment amongst all non-white populations (figure 2). It is the highest for Roma people (46,1%, +38,9 p.p. compared to the majority ethnic group), followed by people of Asian origin (21,6%, +14,4 p.p.), people who identify as black (17,9%, +10,7 p.p.), and those with mixed origins (15,9%, +8,7 p.p.). On the other hand, it is amongst Asian individuals that the proportion of inactive people most resembles that of the self-identifying white population (28,6%, -1,2 p.p.), whilst for individuals of Roma origin we see the highest prevalence of inactive people (38,5%, +8,7 p.p.). In the opposite direction we find black and mixed-origin populations, with inactivity proportions around 17,7% (-12,1 p.p.) and 16,2% (-13,6 p.p.), respectively.
We can also see intense inequalities in housing (figures 3 and 4). All non-white groups present much lower proportions of adult individuals who own the home they live in, compared to the ethnic majority. This proportion is around 45,6% for mixed-origins people (-29 p.p.), 43,5% for Asian people (-31,3 p.p.), 39% for black people (-35,6 p.p.) and 30,6% for Roma people (-44 p.p.).
Regarding living conditions, there are some ethnic inequalities between people who have/don’t have internet in their home and who have/don’t have their own car; we highlight the degree of thermal comfort in the home. Whilst 74% of white people claim to feel thermally comfortable in their own home, this value drops to 67,7% amongst people of mixed origins (-6,3 p.p.), to 65,3% amongst Asian people (-8,7 p.p.), to 56,4% amongst black people (-17,6 p.p.) and, finally, to 46,8% amongst Roma people (-27,2 p.p.).
Finally, it is important to emphasize that the experience of discrimination also reveals expressive inequalities between individuals with different ethnic belongings (figure 5). [1] Whilst 13,9% of white people claim to have been discriminated against, this proportion rises to 24,1% for Asians (+10,2 p.p.), to 40,4% for mixed-origins people (+26,5 p.p.), who present a similar value to the black population, where 44,2% claims to have been discriminated against (+30,3 p.p.) and, at last, 51,3% for Roma people, where half has experienced discrimination before (+37,4 p.p.).
In conclusion, the results of this survey seem to match the diagnoses made by several civil society organisations in Portugal and by non-governmental international agencies, who have pointed out the prevalence of high levels of systemic ethnic-racial discrimination in various sectors of Portuguese society, with an emphasis on the situation of Roma and black people in the realms of housing, justice, employment, and education (Lusa, 2021; ECRI, 2018). The ICOT survey followed a set of methodological procedures that safeguard the right of respondents to self-determination in their ethnic identification, on which the validity of the information collected was dependent on, since these categories had not yet been the object of empirical validation. This exercise allows for a refinement of the ethnic categories that are relevant to analyse Portuguese society in a multidimensional perspective, therefore not running the risk of reducing the multiplicity of belongings and dimensions relevant to the analysis of inequalities in contemporary societies. From this brief news of what seem to be the main results in what comes to social inequalities, the need to deepen the collection of ethnic data stands out, especially in the field of education, employment, and housing – where the vast majority of discrimination experiences are registered (INE, 2023, p. 26).
End notes:
[1] Defined in this survey as “Any distinction, exclusion, restriction, preference or unequal treatment, directly or indirectly manifested by forbidden reasons, which annuls or harms the acknowledgement or exercise of fundamental freedoms and human rights on equal terms in the political, economic, social, cultural, or any other realm of public life.” (INE, 2023, p. 30).
References:
ECRI Secretariat (2018), ECRI Report on Portugal (fifth monitoring cycle), Strasbourg, Council of Europe. Consulted 02-01-2024. https://rm.coe.int/fifth-report-on-portugal/16808de7da.
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (2023), “Inquérito às Condições de Vida, Origens e Trajetórias da População Residente – Destaque, Informação à Comunicação Social, 23 de dezembro de 2023”, Lisboa, INE. Consulted 02-01-2024. https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_destaques&DESTAQUESdest_boui=625453018&DESTAQUESmodo=2.
Lusa, “Plano de Combate ao Racismo teve apoio de grande maioria na consulta pública”, TSF, 11-08-2021. Consulted 02-01-2024. https://www.tsf.pt/portugal/sociedade/plano-de-combate-ao-racismo-teve-apoio-de-grande-maioria-na-consulta-publica-14023453.html.
19 february 2024
By Adriana Albuquerque
