Catalonia 'seeks' poor families to receive more aid
A group of experts is advocating for the creation of a supplementary benefit to pay for housing as a strategy to combat child poverty.
BarcelonaThe Generalitat (Catalan Government) is seeking families with children who are entitled to child benefits and who, for various reasons, are not receiving them. This is one of the measures proposed by the Committee of Experts for Transformation and Social Innovation (CETIS), which a few months ago was tasked by the Ministry of Social Rights with finding ways to reduce the number of children who are entitled to benefits. the child poverty rate, which stands at 34% and which, in the words of Minister Mònica Martínez Bravo, is "persistent and higher" than the European Union average (20%), and even that of Spain (29.2%). In fact, only Bulgaria (35%) surpasses it.
One-third of Catalan children are at risk or experiencing social exclusion, and of these, 14% "are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable," as they suffer from basic needs. However, the range of aid and benefits based on income has proven ineffective in ending this scourge, which is why experts believe that schools or other sources must be used to identify and combat poverty. This situation is evident in the CAPI (Childhood Income Supplement) program, the supplement to the state minimum living income, which in Catalonia is received by only 11% of families who meet the eligibility criteria, while in Spain the figure is 72%. The regional minister reiterated this Monday that her intention is to increase coverage to at least 40%, that is, quadruple the current value.
The CAPI, being a state benefit, is calculated based on state income criteria, and since Catalonia is wealthier than average, it ultimately suffers because the poverty line is set too low. On this point, CETIS experts point out that the thresholds for social benefits must be reviewed to create a more streamlined and automated system, so that vulnerable families do not have to struggle with bureaucracy and worry about whether or not they qualify.
Along these lines, experts advocate rethinking who can receive benefits and advise looking beyond family incomes, as it has already been confirmed that skyrocketing housing prices are impoverishing families. The situation is even more serious if you live in rented accommodations and in overcrowded areas, where the market is more tense and, therefore, some families must allocate up to 60% of their salary to paying the housing allowance, a percentage much higher than the recommended third. Thus, one of the recommendations is to take this housing cost into account and, as is done with the CAPI, create a housing supplement that also covers families who are excluded from the guaranteed income or the IMV (Ministry of Housing and Urban Development) due to their higher incomes.
Birth allowance
Catalonia, like Spain, is one of the minority of EU countries that has abandoned universal child benefits and limited them to income-based benefits. According to experts, these benefits have proven ineffective in ending extreme poverty. This failure is partly due to bureaucratic complexity, a barrier the department is working to address with technological management and increased staffing at benefits offices to streamline payments while avoiding errors that lead to improper payments.
There are also other factors that make it difficult to collect benefits. On the one hand, there is a lack of awareness of what benefits are available and, on the other, the "embarrassment" of receiving them, experts say. Therefore, the creation of a new universal benefit for the first or second year of a child's life is proposed. In this way, CETIS specialists believe that vulnerable families will have their first direct contact with the administration. From there, the link would be maintained with the most vulnerable families who were entitled to other benefits. This "strategy" has a double benefit: for the beneficiary families and also for public administrations, which could reduce bureaucracy.
The minister praised the experts' recommendations and emphasized that the report coincides with the reform of the guaranteed income currently before Parliament and the launch of the one-stop shop for benefits, planned for next year.