The Government's protective action more than halves the poverty rate, lowest in 10 years

A mother caring for her minor children

From the analysis, which draws on data from Eurostat and the National Institute of Statistics, shows that these rates have been on a clear downwards trend since 2021 and that poverty and social exclusion in Spain would be much more severe without the protective role of the state.

The analysis carried out by the Secretariat General for Inclusion coincides in its conclusions with the report presented this Monday in the Senate by the European Anti-Poverty Network in Spain (EAPN-ES), which highlights that the protective action of State aid and benefits, together with the promotion of employment, have placed these rates at the lowest in the time series.

"The measures that the Government has put in place since the pandemic - Minimum Basic Income, minimum wage increase, VAT reduction, caps on electricity and gas bills and the revaluation of pensions - have prevented 10.8 million people from falling into poverty", explained Minister Elma Saiz, according to data from the EAPN report. "In other words, if families had only counted on their real income, without state support, the poverty rate would be 42.6%; but thanks to the totality of transfers, including pensions, this rate is 20.2%".

A woman with her son

The at-risk-of-poverty rate has fallen from 21.7 percentage points in 2021 to 20.2 in 2023, the lowest rate since 2015. "The new goals developed in the 2030 Agenda underline the importance of this rate as a specific indicator," she added. As for the severe poverty risk rate, it has gone from 10.2 percentage points in 2021 to 8.3 points in 2023, which is also the lowest rate since 2015.

"This data shows that the progressive Government's roadmap is the right one, but our action is not finished and we are well aware of that. We are not satisfied," said Saiz. "The fight against inequality and poverty must be a shared fight in which the State and the Autonomous Communities are equally committed," added Saiz.

In this sense, the Minimum Basic Income, a policy launched in 2020 by the Government, has been the necessary umbrella to deploy a uniform protective action throughout the country. However, "it was designed to be complementary to the regional minimum incomes, which could take advantage of the IMV's impetus to increase their amount or extend aid to other groups, and 12 of the 17, including the two autonomous cities, have opted to reduce them. We need to be united in this national purpose," Saiz continued. The only ones that have not reduced their minimum incomes are Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque Country, the Valencian Community and the Canary Islands.

The Minimum Basic Income has had an impact where it was needed most since it was launched in 2020, reducing severe poverty by 5-20%. In Andalusia, Extremadura or Murcia, for example, the IMV reaches about 8% of the population.

The amount of the Minimum Basic Income has been revalued by more than 30% since 2020, with a 15% increase in 2022 to keep up with inflation.

Other indicators

People crossing a street

According to the report presented by the European Anti-Poverty Network in Spain (EAPN), between 2013 and 2018, state transfers to households decreased sharply. In recent years, on the contrary, the protective action of the state has been growing steadily.

In 2021, poverty reduced by 3.1 percentage points compared to the previous year, only attributed to the social shield measures, such as the ERTE and the IMV, "which prevented 1.5 million people from falling into poverty".

EAPN also highlights the role of public pensions, revalued by law in line with CPI, which reduce the risk of poverty by 16.4 percentage points, i.e. by some 7.8 million people. Of these, 2 million people do not receive the benefit directly, but benefit from the impact on their support networks, "hence the multiplier effect of social investment in pensions," says the minister. In the last five years, the average pension has risen 27%.

As for the GINI index, which measures inequality, it has shown a downwards trend since 2014 (with the exception of the year of the pandemic) and reached an all-time low in 2023 (31.5 points). It is one of the lowest rates among the major European economies, such as Germany, France, the UK and Portugal.

Child poverty

Child affected by child poverty

After analysing income in the form of housing, childbirth and elderly care benefits, as well as social assistance benefits such as the IMV and regional minimum incomes, the European Anti-Poverty Network in Spain (EAPN) estimates that in 2023, 18.2% of people in households with minors received some of these benefits, which is the highest figure in the series. In this way, the extension of this aid has increased 82.4% after four consecutive years of increase.

In this sense, people in vulnerable households with children earned 4,207 euros on average per year, i.e. 1,112 euros more than in 2021.

One of the most significant measures in the fight against child poverty is the Minimum Basic Income and the supplementary allowance associated with it. The majority of households covered by the IMV have minors living in them, 67%. Specifically, 816,000 children are protected by this benefit.

As for the child support supplement, it reached 455,000 families in 2024. "Never before has so much effort been devoted to the fight against child poverty," explained Minister Saiz. "Spending has quadrupled for this, but again, we are not satisfied. A full democracy is one that guarantees all opportunities for the new generations."

Non official translation