Poverty in Spain

Main article: Poverty in Europe

• Economy of Spain

2023: Low number of homeless people - 6 people per 10 thousand population

2020: 10.6% of Spaniards undernourished

2016: One in five working Spaniards struggle with poverty

According to the International Labor Organization and the European statistical agency Eurostat (January 2016), almost one in five working Spaniards today is forced to fight poverty. Being employed no longer means not experiencing needs, the organization emphasizes.

Recently, there has been a trend in which even employed Spaniards barely make ends meet. If in 2000 their share among the working population was 18%, today it has already grown to 22.2%. At the same time, in the rest of the EU countries, the growth of this indicator was not so rapid - on average from 15% to 16.6%.

Experts note that the minimum wage set at 655.20 euros is insufficient^[1].

2015: Romania and Spain EU leaders on child poverty

As of January 2015, there are two countries in the European Union that are of greatest concern to public organizations dealing with the problem of poverty among minors. These are Romania and Spain.

In Spain, 2.7 million children are on the verge of poverty, according to specialists from the international non-governmental organization Amnesty International. Human rights activists demand that the Spanish government adjust economic policy and immediately send funds to social programs. According to them, since 2008, about 800 thousand Spanish children have been on the verge of poverty. Their total number was 2.7 million. Among countries European Union , the situation is worse only in. Romania

2014:30% of the population live on subsidies from the state

As of March 2014, almost 30% of Spanish residents of all ages and nationalities receive some kind of payment from the state, whether it is social insurance payments or ancillary subsidies. According to El Confidencial, payments from the state are the main source of income for 13.79 million people, or 29.2% of the population.

However, this figure varies in various regions of Spain. If in Asturias and Galicia the population receiving government payments of an average of 771 euros exceeds 35%, then in Madrid it barely reaches 23%. At the same time, in some provinces, for example, Lugo or Ourense, this figure is more than 40%.

In order to imagine the seriousness of the situation, it should be borne in mind that the number of working persons who regularly contribute part of the income to the social insurance system is 16.21 million people. Considering that almost 14 million people receive certain payments from the state, it turns out that the number of employed residents of the country exceeds this figure by only 17%. This state of affairs is explained by the low employment rate in Spain.

Be that as it may, these data confirm the importance of the role played by social benefits in a crisis situation - not only due to its size (more than 120 billion euros per year), but also due to the fact that these sources of income are stable and do not depend on the market situation.

The crisis of recent years has led to major changes in the economic structure of the country. It has also had a major impact on the pension-wage ratio. Almost a quarter of Spanish pensioners (23.26%) already receive more than the average employed resident of Spain.

2013:3 million residents below the poverty line - less than 307 euros per month

As of October 2013, three million residents of Spain live below the poverty line, that is, less than 307 euros per month. This figure is twice as much as recorded before the start of the crisis in 2008. Relevant figures were presented in the VIII Social Reality Report, released on Thursday by the charity Cáritas. In 2012, she provided assistance to 1,904,737 residents of the country.

During the press conference, Cáritas Secretary-General Sebastian Mora noted the widening gap between those who have access to benefits and services and those who do not. Mora highlighted the "chronic" nature of poverty - one in three of those assisted by Cáritas have applied for it for three years or more.

According to Cáritas, there are a number of basic needs - such as food, housing, clothing and shoes, which are not met as of October 2013. Representatives of the organization note that the social defenselessness of the population is aggravated by the tightening of conditions for access to such natural rights as health care, education, social services, etc.

Between 2006 and 2011, per capita income fell by 11%, and poverty affected the most vulnerable members of society - families with unemployed people, immigrants, single-parent families and children. In this regard, Cáritas sent just over 276 million euros to help Spain in need, of which almost 194 million came from private donations.

Most of the organization's resources were spent on recruitment and labor integration programs (25 million), housing projects (5.8 million) and first aid and shelter (60.6 million euros).

See also

• Poverty in Russia

Notes