Prestações Sociais no Corporativismo Português: A Política de Apoio à Familia no Período do Estado Novo

The creation of family allowances (abono de família) in 1942 was an innovative policy decision in Portugal, that became one of the few countries with this kind of social protection by the mid of 20th century. In Europe this kind of social benefit has been created few years before in Belgium (1930), France (1932), Spain (1938) and The Netherlands (1939). After this creation, this family allowance became integrated in the social security system (previdência social) created in 1935, supported by the Estatuto de Trabalho Nacional (an important ideological piece of the political regime) and following a bismarckian orientation. Looking at the international context, this policy decision was well integrated in the of the process of creation of welfare states in Europe, where Portugal was still in a late progress. This is therefore a source of motivation for this research. If we compare to Portugal, this kind of benefit was introduced later in the most progressive social security systems in Europe (Denmark in 1950; Germany in 1954). The innovative character of this policy decision then contrasts the late development of social security in Portugal. On the other hand, the public defence of this policy measure was made claiming it for a wage complement (what is in accordance to the corporative doctrine of family wage), instead of a social allowance as it was implemented in other European countries. This paper intends to analyse the historical origins of this family allowance in Portugal and to understand the innovative character of its creation in light of the doctrinal orientation of the regime and of the social progress evident in the creation of the welfare states in Europe, in a preliminary country comparative basis.