The 20% of Catalans who earn the most are five times the income of the poorest.

BarcelonaThe income of the highest-earning 20% of Catalans is almost five times (4.6, exactly) greater than that of the lowest-earning 20% of the population. This difference highlights the social inequality in Catalonia, a gap that has remained at similar percentages for a decade. While there has been a slight improvement since the pandemic, the poverty rate remains at 25% of the population. It is still higher. among those under 18 years of age, which reaches 34%, and even more so among the immigrant population, where it rises to 45%.

Thethe entrenchment of poverty is evident, according to social organizations, that the social shield, measures and benefits for the most vulnerable are on the right track because, once the economic transfers are made, the rate of deprivation is reduced. However, even the economic boom in Catalonia and Spain – with controlled unemployment and a growing GDP – does not prevent the existence of an impossible-to-eliminate structural poverty that affects one in four Catalans, according to Mariona Puigdellívol, general director of ECAS, the federation of Catalan social action organizations.

The organization presented its Insocat X-ray 2024, in which she analyzes this "dissonance" between positive macroeconomic data and the social unrest of a percentage of the population who must live on the margins. Regarding these exclusion rates, Puigdellívol asserts that they are actually much higher, but administrations use indicators that are too focused on income and revenue, which are incapable of offering "the complete picture" of exclusion, because they ignore the homeless or those in an irregular situation. "The data we have is harsh, but with other indicators, more poverty would emerge," affirms the official, who believes that "courageous social policies and, above all, structured long-term investment are necessary to undo structural inequalities."

One of the major factors fueling poverty and inequality is the difficulty in accessing affordable housing. According to Puigdellívol, 90% of the 770,000 people served by the 132 ECAS entities have problems in this area. "People are stopping covering other expenses because they're prioritizing rent," he says. The data corroborates this, showing that people are increasingly reducing their consumption of fresh produce and protein, and they have no ability to cope with unexpected events because they can't save a cent.