33% of children in Spain, at risk of poverty: "They broke his glasses and we couldn't afford others"

Sisi Condori and Ivan Camacho had been thinking of saving for years to pay the down payment on a flat.

An apartment that would be for the two of them and their three children.

The Bolivian couple, aged 44 and 41 respectively, arrived in Spain 17 years ago and now lives in Fuenlabrada (Madrid).

The pandemic took away his savings and the possibility of buying a house, among other things.

Iván used to earn 1,200 euros a month in construction, but he has been unemployed for a little over a month, and the family subsists on that money and the benefits of around 150 euros that they receive for the disability of their two eldest children.

Precisely to ensure a future home, they wanted the apartment.

Now, they hardly make ends meet.

The social and economic crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic has had a greater impact on children and young people.

33% of children and adolescents living in Spain do so at risk of poverty and social exclusion, five percentage points more than the population average, according to a study by the Children's Platform.

The analysis of the platform, made up of more than 70 organizations, is based on the 2021 data from the Living Conditions Survey (ECV), published annually by the National Institute of Statistics and uses the AROPE indicator of the Europe 2020 strategy, which the European Union proposed to assess the risk of poverty and social exclusion.

Sisi's middle child, 14, is diagnosed with Asperger's and wears glasses.

“Three of his high school classmates yelled at him and pushed and broke his glasses.

We couldn't afford others”, says Sisi.

Ahinara, the 10-year-old girl, has a language disorder and needs to go to a speech therapist.

"But two sessions of 45 minutes each a week were 170 euros," says the mother.

They found the solution to both problems thanks to non-profit associations.

Obesity and oral health

The rates of obesity, oral health or vision problems are worsened in the most vulnerable children, because parents or caring adults cannot approach them.

According to the report, 6% of children could not go to the dentist when they needed it, 18% in the case of the poorest.

Of all of them, 76% did not go because they cannot afford it.

But health is not the only problem.

“In severe cases there is an intergenerational transmission of poverty.

In other words, these children will continue to be poor when they grow up because they will enjoy fewer opportunities”, explains Ricardo Ibarra, director of the Children's Platform.

Minors with few resources are more likely to drop out, to fail at school or to access more precarious jobs.

“It was feared that with the pandemic there would be a substantial increase in child poverty, and it is true that it has occurred.

But the implementation of measures such as the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) or the childhood supplement have made it possible to alleviate the impact, which would have been much greater without them”, Ibarra develops.

For example, the percentage of households with low employment intensity -those in which people of working age were only able to do so at 20% of their potential- is the lowest in the last 10 years, a "direct consequence of the application of the ERTE”, according to the analysis.

The number of houses that have received family aid and benefits increased by almost three percentage points after the pandemic, although the current 7.2% is far from the 12% that received benefits in 2010.

The protective measures have not been able to avoid, even so, an increase in the rates of risk of poverty.

“Many more must be implemented so that Spain stops having such high rates of child poverty, which they already were before the coronavirus.

We have a structural problem that we are not tackling”, says Ibarra.

The director of the platform indicates that the child poverty rate has not dropped below 20% in the last 20 years in Spain.

"The European average for investment in aid for children and families is 2.4% of GDP, and in Spain it is 1.3%, some 10,000 million euros less than what we should for a country with an economic capacity like the ours," he explains.

The countries that invest the most are Germany (3.4%), Luxembourg and Denmark, both with 3.3% of their Gross Domestic Product.

"Now it turns out that eggs and milk are a luxury," laments Sisi.

5% of minors, the most vulnerable, cannot afford to have access to a balanced diet, according to the report.

Hugo, the eldest son, who is 18 years old and goes to a special care center, needs to consume lactose-free milk.

“Always private label, before it cost us about 80 cents, now 1.30 euros.

It seems silly, but it is very noticeable, ”he expresses.

The mother says that they have never been very comfortable, but that before they could afford to save about 200 euros a month.

"Now nothing at all," she says.

36.9% of minors live in homes that do not have the capacity to face unforeseen expenses, and almost half of those under 18 years of age, 49%, lived last year in a home with difficulties to make ends meet of month.

The economic disadvantage of low-income families also prevents the participation of their children in sports, cultural and extracurricular activities, which affects their educational and social development.

Nor can they afford leisure.

32% of families with children and adolescents under 18 cannot go on vacation for at least one week a year.

Sisi and Iván, for example, used to like to go out once a week to have an ice cream or take a walk with their children, although now they can't.

“And vacations have never been a priority for us,” says Sisi.

Possible solutions

While the State's protective measures against the pandemic managed to reduce the rate of households at risk of poverty in 2020, the percentage of families in a situation of severe poverty advanced slightly, and in 2021 it experienced an increase of one percentage point.

“The Minimum Vital Income is very focused on alleviating the most severe poverty.

It is very beneficial, but at the same time it is very limited, because we need aid to reduce general poverty or prevent families from entering a situation of poverty due to a family change or inflation”, explains Ibarra.

One of the objectives proposed by children's associations is to reach more general aid, such as support for upbringing for all boys and girls.

“The family law is good news, almost all EU countries have parenting assistance, regardless of income.

Here in Spain there is none of that”, adds the director of the Children's Platform.

In addition, they propose increasing the current investment of 1.3% of GDP in the protection of children and families, improving access and eliminating barriers to qualify for public aid.

Also, guarantee a universal, free, inclusive and quality early childhood education and care system, because 23% of families with children from zero to three years old did not have coverage or assistance in preschool or early childhood education centers in 2021 “We need to give a much broader coverage, develop the welfare state.

We have the capacity to ensure access to early childhood education for all children”, concludes Ibarra.

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