Nearly 30% of Spaniards still at risk of poverty

Volunteers at Tetuán neighbourhood food bank in Madrid organize food baskets for distribution. Photo: 20minutos
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• INE says 3.2 million Spaniards earned less than 332 euros/month in 2015
• Average income of Spanish households nationwide fell slightly to 26,000 euros

Despite Spain’s incipient economic recovery, the number of Spaniards at risk of poverty or social exclusion as a result of unemployment and low-income fell only slightly during 2015 to 28.6 of the population, according to figures provided this week by the government’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

At the same time, average household income across Spain actually fell by 0.2 percent year-on-year, slipping to just 26,092 euros per family during 2015. The INE measures the poverty line for households as those having 60 percent or less than the national average income, which during 2015 would have been 8,000 euros for single-income households 16,000 euros for those with two adults and two children under age 14.

The INE figures for 2015 show the number of Spaniards living in extreme poverty last year — with incomes of less than 332 euros per month — grew by 400,000 to reach 3.2 million nationwide; the institute also said that 28.8 percent of the population under age 16 is at risk from falling into poverty.

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