Spain’s Poverty Reduction Has Stalled, Report Finds

Overview

• The EAPN-ES 16th report finds 12.6 million people in Spain—25.7% of the population—face poverty or social exclusion, showing no sustained fall in more than a decade.
• Child poverty is the highest in the EU at 33.8%, affecting about 2.7 million children and adolescents and signaling deep intergenerational risk.
• Severe poverty affects 8% of people (roughly 3.9 million), with the worst rates among the unemployed, single-parent households, migrants and people with disabilities.
• Housing is a major driver: renters face a 43.6% risk of poverty or exclusion and a 15.1% severe-poverty rate, far above homeowners, driven by rising rents and a larger rental market.
• The report notes public transfers spared about 11 million people from falling into poverty but says Spain’s tax-and-transfer system reduces poverty less than peers and calls for a state pact, universal child benefits and stronger income and housing guarantees.