16.5% of Catalan families with children and jobs are in poverty.

BarcelonaAccording to the report, 16.5% of Catalan families with children and jobs are in a situation of working poverty. Accounts that don't add up, presented this Wednesday by the NGO Save the Children. The analysis was carried out using data extracted from theSurvey of living conditions (ECV) of Idescat, and the Continuous display of working lives (MCVL) of Social Security, also including various interviews conducted with families that collaborate with the organization in Catalonia. It is 6.6%, a figure that increases to 10.1% when one child is living, continues to rise to 11.3% when two children are living, and up to 41% when talking about large families. In the context of single-parent families, 34.8% are at risk of working poverty, part-time work, and discontinuity in employment. One in six people who have worked at some point during the year have not earned enough to rise above the poverty line—less than 13,311 euros per year for a one-adult household and less than 27,954 euros per year for a two-adult household.Living Conditions Survey 2024 carried out by Idescat.

Gender and migrant origin, conditioning factors

Gender also influences these figures, as it is common for mothers to reduce their workload or even temporarily abandon it. In fact, 89% of childcare leave in Catalonia is requested by women. Furthermore, when migrant origin is added, the lack of protection doubles, and 44.7% of families with children from countries outside the European Union are in a situation of working poverty. For these reasons, the association calls for the implementation of theStrategy to combat child poverty 2025-2030, a plan presented by the Generalitat of Catalonia that aims to strengthen and improve employment for families with children, strengthen and update social benefits, and facilitate work-life balance with a general system of support for educational leisure.