The inflation crisis that has swept Europe in the last two years has left Spanish families in a paradoxical situation.. On the one hand, households have seen their income grow from one year to the next like never before in recent history.. Furthermore, the number of families with few members working is at historic lows.. With these wickers, it could seem that we are facing an improvement in the quality of life of homes. However, sharp increases in consumer prices have diluted a good part of those gains.. To the point that the most vulnerable population lived in worse conditions in 2023 than in 2022. Poverty indicators have continued to increase, especially severe material deprivation, which already affects 9% of Spaniards, the highest since 2014.

This is the general image left by the 2023 Living Conditions Survey (ECV) published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) this Monday. This statistic is one of the most complete that the INE publishes throughout the year and is the reference on matters of income, poverty and material conditions of Spanish families.

Regarding income, the INE highlights that income both per person and per household grew by more than 8% in 2022. Unlike the rest of the indicators included in this statistic, the income data corresponds to the year prior to the survey. The average profit that a Spanish family makes was 34,821 clean euros in 2022. If we look a little more closely, we see that in the case of households made up of two adults without dependent children, the income rises to 35,173 euros on average, while the family made up of two adults with one or more children pocket 42,974 euros net.. The profit of single-person households stood at 19,135 euros.

This reinforcement in household income has not translated into a reduction in poverty levels. On the contrary, the percentage of the population suffering from severe material deprivation increased from 7.7% in 2022 to 9% in 2023 and is at its highest level since 2014.

Severe material deficiency is considered to exist when families cannot afford expenses such as going on vacation for at least one week a year (33% of Spanish households cannot), a meal of meat or fish every two days (6.4% ) or keep the home at an adequate temperature (20.7%). Also indicators of severe deprivation are the inability to meet unforeseen expenses (37% of families cannot afford them) or delays in paying bills or rent (13.6%).

In the case of difficulties in maintaining a decent diet, one fact draws special attention.. And 6.9% of those under 18 years of age live in homes that cannot afford enough portions of meat or fish per week, the worst record since 2004.. Extrapolating it to the population, there are around half a million children and adolescents and the highest rate

On a personal level, other important indicators of poverty are the inability to replace damaged clothes with new ones (8.8% of Spaniards suffer from this), the lack of income to eat or drink something at least once a month (9 ,5%); the inability to regularly participate in leisure activities (13.7%) or to spend a small amount of money on oneself (15.8%).

Severe material lack is the most acute form of poverty, but it is not the only one.. If we look at the general image, 26.5% of Spaniards are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, five tenths more than in 2022 and three tenths above 2019. This percentage means that one in four Spaniards lives in a home in which at least one of these three conditions is met: there is a risk of poverty, low intensity of employment or severe material and social lack.

Andalusia and the Canary Islands the hardest hit

If we analyze the distribution of poverty by autonomous community, we can see how Andalusia and the Canary Islands have the highest rates in the country.. In Andalusia, 37.5% of the population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Other autonomies such as the Canary Islands (33.8%), Extremadura (32.8%), Castilla-La Mancha (31.7%), Murcia (30.5%) or the Valencian Community (29.6%) are above the national average of 26.5%.

Already at a level below the average are Galicia (25.5%), Asturias (25%), Castilla y León (22.4%), Cantabria (22%), La Rioja (21.8%), Catalonia (21 .2%), Balearic Islands (20.6%), Aragon (20.4%), Madrid (19.4%), Navarra (17.2%) and the Basque Country (15.5%).