Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Social exclusion in Andalucía affects 23 per cent of the population
According to the latest report on poverty and social exclusion by Cáritas Andalucía, 23 per cent of the population of Andalucía (nearly two million people) currently live in social exclusion. It is even more alarming to note that 10.2 percent of the population lives in severe social exclusion.
This report by the ecclesiastical non-governmental organisation (NGO), prepared by the Foessa foundation on social exclusion and development in Andalucía, warns of “the chronic nature of inequality in a profound process of social fragmentation” in the region. The study identifies housing and employment issues as driving factors for social exclusion.
The document notes that “Andalucía is experiencing a profound and persistent process of social fracture, the result of more than two decades of interconnected crises of an economic, healthcare, inflationary and housing nature, whose recovery phases have failed to close the gaps that were opened.”
The headline news in this report is that almost two million people living in Andalucía – 23 per cent of the population – have difficulty participating normally in social life for several, or many, linked reasons. This percentage is above the national average, which is 19.3%.
Cáritas raises its concerns over the increased proportion of the region’s population that is now suffering from severe social exclusion. The number of people affected has increased 270,000 since 2018. Those affected are also “involved in increasingly difficult and long-lasting processes”. The report indicates that only 40 per cent of Andalucía’s population currently shows no signs of social exclusion.
The study reveals a deep process of “social rupture” with 10,2 per cent already experiencing severe exclusion.
This report focuses on the serious impact of housing prices on the rise of social exclusion in Andalucía, which affects nearly one in four people. Housebuying prices have continued to rise in recent years, increasing by 65 per cent since 2018, a situation that causes “a housing burden that pushes more than 400,000 households in Andalucía to live below the severe poverty line after paying for housing and utilities”. Rent prices (which affect 15 per cent or the region’s residents who rent their homes) are also directly responsible for this exclusion.
Other problems
Other housing-related problems include residential insecurity due to a lack of resources and stable income, affecting half a million people, and people living in inadequate housing (overcrowding or unsanitary conditions), affecting 1.2 million people residing in Andalucía.
This NGO argues that unless housing is truly a pillar in the welfare state of Spain, economic improvements will fail to translate to social integration.
Employment is the second most important factor that determines social exclusion after housing. The report emphasizes that “now, there are more people working and more jobs are available but having a good job is not a guarantee to avoid this situation”. In Andalucía, the average salary is 7.6 points lower than the national average in Spain. In addition, one in 10 households have the primary breadwinner facing serious job uncertainty.
The study also shows that nearly half of households in the region are unable to cope with unexpected costs, 1 in 5 cannot maintain a comfortable temperature in their homes and 16 percent have fallen behind on payments related to housing (mortgage, rent or utilities).
“The system is failing, not the people”
Caritas Andalucía is clear that in this problem of social exclusion “it is not the people who fail, but the system”, as they state that in 75% of households affected by severe exclusion, reversion strategies are activated, but these people find themselves with fragmented mechanisms, insufficient resources and responses that are poorly adapted to their real trajectories. Exclusion can be attributed to a situation that makes it difficult for people to integrate, even when they do their best to change the situation. The coordinator of the Andalusian Feos report for Caritas, Daniel Rodríguez de Blas, stated that “social exclusion is the expression of the deep cracks in the current development model”. He said that housing is the biggest bottleneck for social integration, and it’s a false right today, along with employment. Having a job only reduces risk, but it doesn’t eliminate it. Nearly half of Andalusians with foreign nationality are excluded (48%), more than double the number of people with Spanish nationality (20%). 29% of minors are excluded, which is almost three-quarters. The situation is worse for women who head households. In recent years, the number of people who have difficulty buying medicine or undergoing treatment because they lack resources has doubled. This affects more than 1.3 millions people. In the case of serious problems, 6% Of Andalusian families have no one they can turn to.
