If today we decide to end all the support and benefits, including retirement and survival pensions, about 10.8 million people in Spain will enter poverty. Report XIV The Land of Poverty. Poverty and Division. Independent States and Europe, presented on Monday by the Network to Fight Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Spanish State (EAPN-ES) in the Senate, shows that If this transfer did not exist, a when poverty increases more than 50% in some autonomous regions.
“Without the Government, we would have had a big problem,” he said. Juan Carlos Llanowho is responsible for the Research of the organization. But, regardless of the importance of this transfer, the report shows that the results are low compared to other countries of the European Union. In Spain they reduce poverty by 52.6%, in Germany they do it by 64.9%, in France by 67.2% and in Finland by 70.7%. There is a need, they say, for better redistribution.
The autonomous regions where transfers reduce poverty the least are those that are already high, such as Region of Murcia, Canary Islands, Extremadura, Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia. Because, for another year, the difference between the north and the south is still there.
The need for a pension
The survey, which adds new chapters on the situation in the autonomous regions and in Europe, as well as what is being added to the government data. XIV Report The State of Poverty in Spain which was issued on June 4, shows that the retirement and savings pension fulfills an important control function not only in the health of the elderly, but also among those who live with it and benefit from it.
Therefore, the report shows that, at the state level, due to retirement benefits Poverty has been reduced by 5.4 points between zero and 64 years of age. This means that two million people benefit from it. “Pensions are not for old people,” Juan Carlos Llano repeated several times during the presentation.
“We are concerned about the gap between the discussion of pensions and access to housing for young people. It is difficult and unfair for everyone,” added Alejandro Sanz, EAPN-ES Research Technician, who emphasized that pensions benefit everyone when. calling for concrete solutions to the problem of finding housing or low wages.
North-south difference
As in previous years, living in the south is a major problem of poverty. There continues to be a north-south territorial asymmetry, something that is evident in almost all indicators that have been used to measure poverty and social inequality.
The northern regions still have low levels of poverty and/or lack of access to people: between 0.8 and 11.5 percent, below the national average (26.5%). At the other end of the scale are those in the south, with “extraordinarily high” rates that remain between 1.5 and 10.9 percent above the national average. “If the southern region were a country, it would have the highest prices in Europe for all indicators,” said Sanz.
Some of the reasons that explain this difference are the geographical location or the distribution of people, as well as the political system and the different methods of cooperation and collaboration.
Insufficient policies
All this information, Sanz pointed out, shows that we should promoting the growth of social policies in the fight against poverty. For example, this report shows that economic growth alone is not enough to ensure a better life for all: pmore comprehensive policies to reduce the risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE statistics), which in 2023 affected 12.7 million people.
This, as explained by the EAPN-ES, is reflected in the relationship between GDP and poverty of different autonomous communities. Because although the Gross Domestic Product has increased in all regions since 2015, poverty has decreased by only ten.
In La Rioja, the Community of Madrid, Cantabria and Castilla y León has increased GDP by more than 15% since 2015, while poverty has only been reduced by 1% to 3%.
State Pact against Poverty
“Successive reports prepared by EAPN-ES have shown that poverty is a persistent and persistent problem over time. both in Europe and the state and in all autonomous regions. The policies that have been promoted in the face of recent challenges have been a regressive approach, showing that, in terms of human rights and well-being, there is no room for retreat. at any skill level. But not only that, effective eradication of poverty and social exclusion is needed promoting social policieswhich is included as part of the civil rights of the civil society and not just to respond to emergencies,” he says.
For this reason, EAPN-ES also wants the establishment of a State Pact Against Poverty, which contains the cooperation of the entire parliament arc and the various independent governments.
