"After the pandemic we have not been able to reverse poverty," Francina Alsina, president of the Taula del Tercer Sector de Catalunya, warned this morning at the presentation of the barometer in which the activity of more than 3,100 entities is analyzed. One of the most relevant data is that in 2021, 1.9 million people at risk of social exclusion had been served, 350,000 more than in 2017. The worst thing is that this figure continues to rise, since it is estimated that in 2022 it could have increased by a further 30%, highlights the research carried out by the Fundació Ferrer i Guàrdia.
The impact of the covid has left a panorama with a "greater complexity of social needs" marked by the emotional discomfort of young people; the deterioration of physical and psychological capacities, in addition to the increase in unwanted loneliness of the elderly; the complexity of access to housing which, in many cases, has led to situations of homelessness, and the increase in the digital divide. "Social vulnerability profiles have diversified and also affect the active and/or qualified labor population," the authors point out.
Rita Grané, vice president of the Taula, has also confirmed the increase in the number of young people who end up sleeping rough in recent years, many of them migrants.
The first accompanied group is that of older citizens, while in 2017, when the previous barometer was carried out, it was the third, behind children and people with disabilities. And the main area of intervention is education and leisure, followed by culture and psychosocial care and rehabilitation. 51% of the entities consider that their activity is integrated within the framework of the categorization of essential or basic services.
As the president of the Taula, Francina Alsina, recalled, the proportion of the population that was at risk of poverty in 2022 was 19.9%, the same percentage as in 2021, according to the survey on living conditions. Idescat life.
The results of the barometer are the result of a survey carried out on 3,134 entities, with a sample of 500, and a margin of error of 4%. 56% of its resources come from the administrations, 28% from its own sources and 16% from private funds. A stumbling block that they repeatedly encounter is late payments: 36% of entities are affected by public sector debt, mainly from the Generalitat. Credit policies are the main way out of this situation that generates treasury tensions.
The barometer incorporates an analysis in each of the provinces, for which its authors have created a complexity index in social care (ICAS), which incorporates demographic, economic, occupation, housing, nationality and social benefit data to from 32 indicators. Based on this index, the conclusion is that Tarragona is the province with the most negative situation and Barcelona the one with "values that indicate less complex realities". "Tarragona has the highest percentage of single-parent and large families, as well as people with disabilities and the non-activable population (citizens who receive retirement or disability benefits)", summarize the authors, who conclude that it is necessary "to provide answers that go beyond the rural and urban imbalances".
