The President of the Government, the High Commissioner and the "la Caixa" Foundation present the study The cost of child poverty in Spain

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has stressed that, thanks to the social shield and the measures implemented by the Government, "we have halted the increase in child poverty by 11 points" and "we have prevented almost a million children and adolescents from falling into poverty". "Not only are we not resigned, but we are fighting against inequality and child poverty as one of the most powerful driving forces behind and explaining the actions of the progressive coalition government", "not only for social justice but also in the interests of the country", he said.

This he said at the closing ceremony of the presentation of the study 'The cost of child poverty in Spain', coordinated by the High Commission against Child Poverty, with the collaboration of the "la Caixa" Foundation, which was also attended by the First Vice-President and Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, and the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzón. 

At this event held in the CaixaForum auditorium in Madrid, Sánchez stressed that child poverty costs more than 63,000 million euros a year, 5.1% of annual GDP in 2019 figures. A cost that is calculated on the basis of two magnitudes: firstly, that in adulthood they will receive a gross salary of 5,100 euros less per year; and, secondly, the exponential increase in the risk of having poor health with the resulting costs for the health system.

The head of the Executive stressed that inequality is even greater in the case of girls, "victims of double discrimination: for being women and for a childhood marked by poverty".

In this respect, he pointed to four main lines of action by the Government to combat child poverty, to dignify salaries in order to combat in-work poverty and to tackle the wage gap. Firstly, the implementation of the Minimum Living Income, which already protects more than one and a half million people and half a million households, two thirds of which include at least one child. More than 42% of all beneficiaries are minors and 6 out of 10 recipients are women. Secondly, the increase in child benefits, frozen for 17 years until 2019. Since that year, the amount has been doubled for children in households in severe poverty, and the Child Allowance Supplement has been launched, with 1,000 euros for children up to the age of 3, which now reaches 300,000 households. 

Thirdly, with courageous measures in the socio-labour sphere, such as the 47% increase in the minimum wage over five years, which will benefit more than 1.7 million women, or the increase and equalisation of paternity and maternity leave to improve the reconciliation of work and family life. And finally, progress in "fiscal justice", with a reduction in personal income tax that will benefit half of all workers; the reduction in VAT on gas and electricity, and the promotion of the thermal and electricity social voucher to combat energy poverty.

Sánchez also made reference to investment in the field of education, with a historic allocation of more than 2,500 million euros in scholarship policy.

Many of these measures are part of the Action Plan to implement the European Child Guarantee, with a budget of 1,663 million euros, 66% more than planned and double the minimum required by the European Commission.

During the event, held in the CaixaForum Auditorium in Madrid, the High Commissioner for the Fight against Child Poverty, Ernesto Gasco, pointed out that, with the presentation of this study on the cost of child poverty in Spain, "we are highlighting the importance of scientific knowledge for making progress and getting it right in the fight against poverty and inequality".

"We shed light on more than a decade of political denialism, which relegated child poverty and inequality in childhood to the background, despite the fact that this structural problem worsened and reached its peak during the economic recession resulting from the 2008 crisis," he remarked.