More than 460,000 Catalan children live at risk of poverty or social exclusion. That's one in three. The economy continues to grow—outperforming Spain's and Europe's—and with such a low unemployment rate. as we haven't seen it since before the 2008 financial crisis.
It is in this context that last week Salvador Illa and the councilor Mònica Martínez Bravo presented the Strategy to combat child poverty in CataloniaThis is a five-year plan that was conceived under the previous government, led by Carles Campuzano. At that time, through 12 key initiatives, a general framework was established to reduce child poverty in Catalonia and bring us closer to the European average.
Now we are presented with a more concrete and implementable version of a plan that, at the time, had to be designed and approved in haste, under the shadow of early elections. It lacked a detailed action plan and a specific budget allocation. Although we continue with extended budgets, the new version is based on actions already underway or planned for 2025, totaling €700 million. In the absence of additional investment, existing resources have been marshaled to respond.
At the same time, some of the ambitious measures that were planned in the previous version are implemented in the short term, keeping on the horizon the universal child-rearing benefit -a state responsibility-, a reform of the Guaranteed Citizen Income (RGC) is now being considered to ensure a child-centered approach. Also proposed is the Minimum Living Income (IMV), which the Generalitat has been managing for a few months. It is estimated that in Catalonia Almost 80% of families that could receive the Childhood Supplement (CAPI) from the IMV do not receive it.. Considering that raising a boy or a girl costs, today, up to 938 euros per month in CataloniaImproving the functioning of current benefits to support families with children is an essential measure.
One of the key advances of the new strategy is the monitoring and evaluation system using European indicators. This is an often overlooked aspect of social policies, but it is essential: what is not measured cannot be improved.
But if there's one value to be highlighted in this strategy, it's the fact that a plan from the previous government has been maintained. Despite the change not only of teams, but also of political parties, a national strategy continues. This is unusual in politics, and even less so with measures of such social importance and such little electoral return as the fight against child poverty. This way of doing politics, building on and not breaking with what your predecessors have done, is what gives quality to this fight against poverty.
