Risk-of-poverty-rate in 2017 up to 20%

The risk-of-poverty rate in Catalonia from 2017 was at 20%, rising eight decimal points from the year before, according to the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat). The entity also warned that the most affected population is that of individuals under sixteen, with a rate of 28.5%, 4.5 more than 2016.

In Catalonia, the threshold determining who qualifies as at-risk-of-poverty sits at 10,097 euros. The threshold for the whole of the State is 8,522. In all, the amount of people who say they struggle to get to the end of the month represents 7% of the population.

The average income of Catalan households during 2016 was measured at 31,411 euros per household, and 12,712 per person, 0.2% and 0.4% higher than the previous year.

Red Cross, fewer families require aid

There are various organizations dedicated to helping those who live below the breadline, including the NGO Red Cross. As well as providing help to those in extreme situations, the organization also helps families with children, 81% of whom live in chronic poverty. 

The data, released at the beginning of June, does however show some improvement: one in three people who received basic aid from the Red Cross during the economic crisis no longer need it. And while they still may be in a vulnerable situation, numbers show that 69% of them have found employment.

Càritas, Adequate housing needed to escape extreme poverty

However, the religious organization Càritas, dedicated to helping those living on the edge of society, bears less heartening news. It also issued a report within the last month warning that regards extreme poverty, one of the main hurdles to change one’s situation lies in receiving adequate housing. 

The organization attended to more than 12,000 families in 2017 in Barcelona, more than half of whom were living on or below the breadline, in make-shift huts, sub-letted properties, vehicles, shelters, or on the street. In 2016, the figure was set at 44.5%.

Càritas has warned of an increase in the people it helped last year living without decent housing. Throughout 2017, the charity attended a total of 22,635 individuals who find themselves in marginalized circumstances, marking an increase of 1% compared to the previous year. The figure has more than doubled than since ten years ago, when they attended 10,000 people.

Save the Children, over 200k in extreme poverty

The NGO Save the Children estimates that over 200,000 children live in severe poverty in Catalonia, in a report released in March which stated that one in four people under 18 is affected by child poverty. 

Save the Children states that 348,600 children in the country live under the poverty threshold, which is at an income of 1,760 euros per month for two-parent, two-child family. According to the report, the investment in social protection in the country is only the 0.8% of the country’s GDP, far from the European average, at 2.4%.