Andalucia suffers second highest poverty rate during economic crisis

ANDALUCIA currently has the second fastest growing poverty rate in Spain, according to a report by the Fundacion Bancaja and Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas.

The autonomous region ranks just behind Extremadura in Human Poverty Index and just ahead of Canarias.

According to the same study, these same three regions are also those that have the worst economic performance compared to the national average.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Navarra, Basque, and Cantabria regions have actually decreased their poverty rates.

In general, the human poverty index in Spain has increased 1.7 percent during the crisis due to the 16.2 increase in those living below the poverty line and the 565 percent growth in unemployment.

The calculation of these ‘human poverty index’ (HPI) numbers takes into account both economic poverty (income and unemployment) as well as human capital poverty (health and education).

Interestingly enough, life expectancy rates above 60 years of age have increased while school dropout rates have decreased, two statistics that would normally help the human capital side of a country’s HPI.

However, Spain’s almost sixfold rise in unemployment offsets these positive increases.