In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade de Lisboa. I struggled to find any short-term sublets in the city, so the university stepped in to offer me a shared room in an all-male dormitory in an upmarket neighbourhood. I was surrounded by young, highly educated Portuguese students who all agreed upon one thing: after graduating, they would be leaving the country.
Now the coalition government, the centre-right Aliança Democrática, is using this year’s budget to try to stem this brain drain and keep young graduates in Portugal. The proposed policy is a progressive, multi-year tax holiday for those aged 18 to 35 on annual salaries of up to €28,000 (£23,360). But is this the right approach?
