• 1,200 interviewees said to receive on average just 375 euros per month
• Six out of 10 homeless said they rely on non-governmental assistance
Results of a survey of homeless people in 10 municipalities of the Basque Country carried out at end-October show that more than 300 individuals are sleeping rough on the streets of Euskadi each night and 1,500 more are staying overnight in shelters for the homeless.
Of the more than 1,200 homeless surveyed on the streets of the País Vasco, more than three-quarters (76.5 percent) acknowledge they have some level of income every month, but not enough to pay rent and keep them from having to sleep on the street.
According to the Second Annual Survey on the Situation of Homeless People in the Basque Country, 40 percent of the individuals interviewed said they relied on some level of government assistance to get by each month; 18.2 percent said they received help from non-profit agencies, 15.7 percent from work they performed, 14 percent from families, 6 percent through begging and 3% through other means.
Of those who said they rely on some level of government assistance each month, nearly 19 percent said they received public benefits, 13 percent had a pension (either as a widow/er, retiree or due to disability) and only 4 percent were receiving unemployment compensation.
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