Dimitris Kouimtsidis
THE coronavirus crisis will force more than 700,000 people in Spain into poverty, a new report has found.
According to Oxfam, the region that will suffer most will be Andalucia, where 201,000 people will be forced into poverty, followed by the Canary Islands and Extremadura.
Spain’s GDP will fall by at least 9% this year and the unemployment rate will reach 19%.
People with lower incomes will lose proportionally eight times more than those at the top end of society.
The poorest group, which includes people that receive less than 60% of the median income, will reach 10.8 million citizens.
The NGO predicts that the 700,000 new poor people will cause the relative poverty rate to rise to 23.1% of the population, compared to 21.5% registered before the pandemic.
Inigo Macias, Oxfam’s research coordinator, explains that this relative poverty takes into account the average level of income, which this year, according to forecasts, will drop considerably.
“Between March 18 and the beginning of June, all 23 Spanish billionaires on the Forbes list have seen their wealth increase by more than €19 million,” adds Macias.
Lara Contreras, head of research at Oxfam, broke down the demographic of those most at risk because of the pandemic: “Women, migrants and those with low qualifications.”
The report reveals that among the migrant population, the probability of losing one’s job is 145% higher than among Spaniards.
In just 22 days, 900,000 people lost their social security due to the economic slowdown.
The most affected sectors were construction and hospitality, in which 73% of those affected correspond to low-income groups, with a greater presence of women, youths and low-skilled workers.
This report doesn’t include the guaranteed minimum income scheme for the most vulnerable in society, as it was only introduced by the Spanish government a few weeks ago, something which Oxfam celebrates and supports.
