Not as little as the 284,000 households that Airef talked about in June, nor as much as the 850,000 target that the central government proclaimed in 2020, when it launched the measure. The actual number of people who receive the minimum vital income (IMV) is 557,405 households.
The data was provided yesterday for the first time by the Central Government and resolves an important statistical gap surrounding one of the most ambitious social programs to combat poverty. The aid guarantees at least 604 euros per month to people with the most difficulty and can reach 1,462 euros in the most extreme cases, for single-parent families with four or more dependent children.
The figures that were presented yesterday go further: the IMV covers 1.66 million people, generates a monthly cost of 346 million euros in the public coffers, distributes an average of 500 euros per holder and includes an average of 2 ,9 people per household.
Is it a good data? Sources from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration acknowledge that it remains below the targets that were announced in 2020, but this is partly because, they say, the situation has changed quite a bit since then. Among other things, they say, the labor market shows great resistance to economic tensions.
However, the central government itself is aware that there is room for improvement. The Secretary of State for Social Security and Pensions, Borja Suárez, and the General Secretary for Inclusion, Mónica Martínez Bravo, met yesterday with employers and unions to precisely analyze possible improvements in the IMV.
Aid covered 3.5% of the Spanish population in February, or almost one in every 30 people. It is a relative relief after the blow of inflation, which raised poverty in Spain last year and which has raised to 9% the population in conditions of serious material deprivation, according to the latest survey on living conditions of the INE.
What is clear is that the IMV is now picking up speed. The current more than 550,000 households imply an increase of 37% compared to the 2022 closing figure of 406,000 households. The great increase is thanks, according to the sources, to the communication campaigns, to the reinforcement of the staff dedicated to processing the files and also to the fact that the incomes from which the IMV can be paid as in addition
The Spanish Government estimates that the aid reaches 58% of potential recipients, although in this case the calculation corresponds to 2022. It is a percentage similar to that calculated by Airef and not far removed from what happens in other European countries. It is below the 62% achieved by Belgium, but above the 56% of Germany, 34% of France, 29% of Finland and 27% of the United Kingdom.
In cumulative terms, there are already 770,000 households and 2.2 million people who have enjoyed the IMV at some point since it was created. In February, the average recipient was 28 years old on average. 66% correspond to families with children, 66% are women and 41% are children, the group recently identified by the INE as the one most at risk of poverty.
The differences by autonomous communities are also significant. Of the 346 million dedicated to the IMV in February, 101 million corresponds to Andalusia, compared to 32 million in Catalonia and 33 million in Madrid.
Of the 1.66 million receivers, 545,000 are in Andalusia, 172,000 in Catalonia, 176,000 in Valencia and 134,000 in Madrid.
