The presidents of the European Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion in Spain (EAPN-ES) and of the Table of Entities of the Third Social Sector of Catalonia, Carlos Susías and Francina Alsina, have demanded that the criteria be unified in time to ask for Minimum Vital Income (IMV) and regional benefits.
They have done so within the framework of a seminar held in Tarragona, where a hundred social entities, academics and administrations from across the Spanish state have reflected on why the most vulnerable people with the right to the IMV do not end up requesting it. In Catalonia, it is estimated that only 14% of the total number of citizens living in extreme poverty are receiving this state aid.
With the seminar 'The adaptation of the Minimum Vital Income to the autonomous minimum income system: opportunities, challenges and challenges', which was held this Tuesday in the Aula Magna of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) of Tarragona, the final point to the state project 'Accés Vital', started in 2022. During the last year, teams from all the autonomous communities have investigated why many of the people with the right to request the IMV do not ask for it.
According to the president of the EAPN-ES and EAPN Europe, Carlos Susías, both the Spanish government and the European Union have shown their interest in the project, since the results obtained may also be transferred to the rest of the aid. "Almost all social benefits have a portion of people who, despite having the right to request help, do not end up asking for it," explained Susías, who added that the objective of the project is "to help this group exercise their rights." ”.
From there, the team led by Helder Ferreira, project coordinator, will begin the analysis of all the data collected at the state level. Susías has stressed that the results will be known in March 2024. It will also be then that an improvement proposal will be drawn up, so that the set of social aid reaches citizens.
For her part, the president of the Board of entities of the Third Social Sector of Catalonia, Francina Alsina, has highlighted the digital divide as one of the major problems that the most vulnerable people encounter when applying for 'IMV.
"Everything has been done digitally with a population that has no training, no information, and no access to new technologies," lamented Alsina, who believes that "that's part of the disaster." Distrust and bureaucratic obstacles are other “barriers” that, according to Susías, would justify this lack of applications.
