The Minimum Vital Income (IMV) only reaches 20.8% of the population that is below the poverty line. Currently the average monthly amount of the IMV is 171 euros per person and 491 euros per household, according to the report published this Thursday by the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services. In total, the aid would be reaching 1,752,467 people, of which 755,752 are minors. By number of households, 611,029 receive it.

When the measure came to fruition, in December 2021, the Executive had planned to reach 2.3 million people within 850,000 families, so up to now the income has reached 76% of the initially estimated family nuclei. In fact, three out of four requests end up denied. For José Manuel Ramírez, president of the Association, the reasons why the aid does not end up permeating are in the processing: “Complex procedures and erratic management keep the lines of hunger, which express the failure of this benefit” , he pointed.

The web processing system, “without the support of any personnel who know the requirements”, and “the impossibility of getting an appointment in person at the INSS offices” are two of the obstacles that are included in the report. The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (Airef) had manifested itself in the same vein in July of last year, when it recommended simplifying bureaucratic barriers and increasing publicity about the service.

The Association of Directors and Managers warns that these figures only cover the needs of 20.8% of people who are below the poverty risk threshold. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2022 the threshold for households with only one member stood at 10,088 euros per year, 5.8% more than the estimate in the previous year. In households made up of two adults and two children under 14 years of age, it was 21,185 euros.

The benefit managed by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations aims to guarantee those who meet the requirements a minimum income of 462 euros per household, up to a maximum of 1,015 euros, depending on the size of the family unit. Ramírez has also criticized the calculation scales in a press release and has demanded that the calculation of economic capacity not be made on the income of the previous year, since in this way the collection of money is delayed and does not help in situations of unforeseen deficiency

For the purpose of calculating the income of the applicants, the Association also demands that the aid that users may receive due to dependency and pensions for the feeding of dependent minors be excluded. Finally, to expedite the aid, it has recommended that applicants not be required to have a historical registry.

Low IMV coverage in the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Catalonia

The distribution of coverage is uneven throughout the national territory. The Balearic Islands is at the tail of the number of people below the poverty line who receive the benefit, it only charges IMV 11.4%. It is followed by the Canary Islands, with 12.3%, and Catalonia with 16.2%. Among the regions with the best percentage of coverage are Melilla and Ceuta, both above 40%, and La Rioja, where 32.7% of low-income people receive the supplement.

Regarding the public money dedicated to this service, during 2022 the investment in minimum income that the autonomous communities made in 2020 was exceeded for the first time, reaching the minimum vital income item of 2,512.82 million euros. However, since the benefit has not reached the estimated number of people, last year the Ministry of Inclusion has not been able to execute the total budget allocated for this aid. According to the report, 453 million euros have been returned, the equivalent of the benefit of 250,000 people.

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