The District of Santarém is a district of Portugal, located in Portugal's Centro Region. The district capital is the city of Santarém. The district is the 3rd largest in Portugal, with an area of 6,747 km2 (2,605 sq mi), and a population of 475,344 inhabitants, giving it a population density of 70 people per sq. kilometer (180 people per sq. mile). It borders on the north with the District of Leiria and the District of Castelo Branco, on the east with the District of Portalegre, on the south with the District of Évora and with the District of Setúbal and on the west with the District of Lisbon and with the District of Leiria. The Santarém district has been affected by desertification, aging, degradation of public services, and general impoverishment of the population. The district lost 22,500 inhabitants between 2011 and 2018 (5% of its population, twice the rest of the country in percentage terms) and saw a drop in employment - 24% less between 2002 and 2013 - with 43,600 fewer jobs in 2017 than in 2002 (minus 19%), "despite the recovery" which started in 2014.e sector most affected was industry, with 34,000 fewer jobs between 2002 and 2016, with agriculture falling by 17,600 jobs.
What is happening in the agricultural sector is “worrying”, with the available jobs being filled by migrant workers, the problem not being the occupation of jobs, but “the exploitation” that immigrant workers have. they are subject and in "the way the bosses take advantage of their weaknesses. However, “the picture of precariousness is transversal to all sectors and reaches very worrying levels in the district”, with the weight of fixed-term contracts reaching 33%, with a greater incidence in men (35%) and young people (more than 50% up to the age of 35 and 70% in the 18-24 age bracket). The district is aging, with more than 95,000 old age retirees and in the overwhelming majority of municipalities, the old-age pension is lower than the 435 euros of the national average, "the result of" low wages ".
