There is a “culture much of ours” in which each Portuguese feels “guarded by their brother” and many do not reject “doing what is within their reach in the collective construction” of a better hereafter for each and every one. 

And when we say a “culture much of ours” it is because, among us, direct social action developed by the people of each place and of most localities, which organise, are empowered and move in favour of their people with disabilities, their children, their young people and their elderly – and especially in favour of those most in need – comes much earlier than the awakening of the State to its social responsibilities. There is capillarity, charity, citizenship, cooperation, gratuity, preferential option for the most needy, proximity, solidarity, subsidiarity and volunteering.

It is a culture that could already be found in the 13th century. At that time, mutual associations were created that to this day inspire “family funeral” mutual aid associations. The Brotherhoods of Misericórdia were later created to provide assistance to the poor and destitute, and many of them are still active. In the 20th century, institutions (normally linked to the Catholic Church) started caring for children in day-care centres and kindergartens, as in leisure activities, a pioneering service that was, until recently, almost exclusively provided by these institutions. The same is the case with institutions that support the elderly and citizens with disabilities.

It is a multi-century culture that marks an unrivalled practice of competence and science. A practice ensured by a network of entities and institutions of a particular nature, outside the perimeter of the State or other public entities and implemented by the closest entity, on a territorial scale, and by intermediate bodies, before the public sphere, with regard to the nature of organisations.

They are organisations of a community that gets involved and does not demobilise and, in times of crisis, behaves in an expansionist and countercyclical way, compared with other traditional sectors of the economy and other societies. 

They are the economy of the people and for the people, with a more humanistic approach, closer and more beneficial to citizens, especially those that live in situations of greater social fragility.

They are associations (3,121), cooperatives (50), foundations (239) or mutual societies (99) of social solidarity, parish social centres (1,028), institutes of religious organisation (226), misericórdias (370) and federations, unions or confederations (35), in a global set of 5,019, with responses for institutional care for children and young people in danger, emergency social housing, social canteens, shelter houses, centres (reception, socialising, day and night for elderly people, life support and drug addiction, family and parental support, community and protocol counselling, occupational and leisure activities), day-care centres, integrated continuous care, kindergartens, homes (for children, youth or the elderly), home support services. They are Private Institutions of Social Solidarity (IPSS) that, taken together, can constitute the Social Solidarity Sector.

The Solidary Social Sector has not only grown exponentially in number of Institutions constituted, particularly since December 19th, 1996. That was the day when the Cooperation Pact for Social Solidarity was signed and the day from which, to this day, social responses almost trebled and, given their distribution throughout the territory and among the communities in which they are inserted, began to gain high social and economic importance, now supporting, daily and directly, about 700,000 people in Portugal and ensuring about 200,000 jobs.

It is a sector protected by art. 63 (5) of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, which recognises the existence of IPSS, placing them within the scope of the Social Security System and establishing their right to State aid to develop their activities. The law implemented this obligation in contracts signed between the Public Social Security Services and the IPSS – Cooperation Agreements.

Quantifying the economic importance of these IPSS is possible only by approximation, given the gaps that still persist in terms of collecting and systematising statistical information on this economic activity sector. The available statistical information that best approaches the universe of IPSS operations is information obtained by Social Economy Satellite Account (CSES) 2013, resulting from a study prepared under the cooperation protocol between the National Statistics Institute, I.P. (INE) and the António Sérgio Cooperative for Social Economy, CIPRL (CASES). Social Economy Satellite Account covers all organisations operating in the field of the so-called Social Economy, in five groups, namely Cooperatives, Mutualities, Misericórdias, Foundations and Associations and other social economy organisations.

According to data from the Satellite Account, in 2013 Social Economy represented 2.8% of the national Gross Value Added (GVA) and 6% of total paid employment, being responsible for payment of 5.2% of the total remuneration. In 2013, the year in which the “peak” of the economic and financial crisis was reached, the Social Economy sector boasted frankly positive economic performance when compared with that of the national economy, in counter-cycle, recording 61,268 entities (in 2013) against 55,383 (2010), a 10.6% increase in this period. In other words, Social Economy recorded substantial increase in the number of entities, as well as its weight in total employment and paid employment in the national economy, in addition to an increase in the average remuneration per worker compared with the national average, compared with the results obtained in Social Economy Satellite Account with data from 2010. The contribution of Social Economy to create national wealth (GVA) remained stable, which means, given the reduction in national GVA, which recorded a slight increase in this period, in relative terms. It also appears that, in 2013, Social Economy was present across all economic activities. The more than 61 thousand entities registered in Social Economy in 2013 are present in all NUTS III regions of Portugal, but CASES finds that they are more frequently located in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (23%) and the Metropolitan Area of Oporto (11.7%). Of these 61 thousand entities, 5,584 (9.1%) are IPSS.

Comparative analysis of GVA and employment in the Social Economy sector with some branches of activity in the national economy allows better understanding its importance. One finds that Social Economy GVA recorded a higher value than activities such as electricity, gas, steam and cold air, agriculture, forestry and fishing, as well as agribusiness and telecommunications.

On the other hand, paid employment in Social Economy, reaching 6% of total employment, revealed an employing capacity superior to branches of activity traditionally characterised by intensive use of work, such as “Financial and Insurance Activities” and “Telecommunications”. 

Standing out from these data, the information related to Private Social Solidarity Institutions, showing their role and preponderance in the overall performance of Social Economy, it appears that the more than 5,500 Institutions (9.1%) of the total represented 43% of GVA, 44.1% of wages and 60.4% of paid employment.









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