A quarter of all families with children in Spain live in poverty

Save The Children says more than a quarter of all families with children in Spain are living in poverty, with most of them in three-generation households.

The Families at Risk report is based on a detailed examination of official data which showed poverty and social exclusion affected some 2.1 million children.

It highlighted the largest category of people struggling were larger families living with grandparents, with nearly three-quarters – 73.8 per cent – suffering moderate to severe poverty. Adults were typically of low education, with less than a third continuing their education up to the age of 15.

Poverty and social exclusion

Single mothers were by far the most vulnerable category – over half suffer from severe poverty, six out of 10 mothers are unemployed and 90 per cent unable to afford unforeseeable costs like glasses for their children or paying for things like a broken fridge.

At particular risk are migrant families, with a third reporting they are unable to pay their monthly utility bills. Andres Conde, head of Save the Children in Spain, said the government must, in the next national budget, approve measures to have a significant social impact for the most vulnerable families.

In a statement, he said: “This social scourge which affects one in every four homes with children can only be fought with investment. The state needs to reduce inequality and poverty among the most needy families and it isn’t doing it.”

‘The state needs to reduce inequality’

He added that Spain currently only invested around 1.3 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in family allowances, compared with an average of 2.4 per cent in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

The full report is available here (Spanish only).