In Castile-La Mancha, the Minimum Integration Income (RMI) does not fulfill its role of providing relief to the most vulnerable people. Even if the region presents a risk of poverty and social exclusion rate of 34.2% in 2024, a … one of the highest in the country, the coverage of this aid is one of the lowest at the national level. Only 0.1% of the population living below the poverty line in Castile-La Mancha receives aid, that is to say an amount varying depending on the family unit for people without resources who need to cover their basic needs and facilitate their social and professional integration.
This percentage of 0.1% places the region alongside Madrid (0.4%) and Andalusia (0.6%), as the least covered communities. of this aid. On the other hand, the national average is 6.1%, which means that only a small part of people living in poverty access the Minimum Integration Income, despite the high needs in the region.
These data emerge from the document presented this week by the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services of Report on minimum integration income which was made public by the Ministry of Social Rights and the National Institute of Statistics (INE) for 2024.
Thus, the number of beneficiaries of the Minimum Integration Income in Castile-La Mancha has suffered a decline in recent years, partly motivated by the implementation of the Minimum Living Income (IMV) in 2020. Since then, the region has seen the number of people benefiting from this assistance decrease by 90.04%, from 7,159 beneficiaries in 2020 to only 713 in 2024.
While some communities like Valencia or the Basque Country have increased their number of beneficiaries and their budget in recent years, in Castile-La Mancha there is a disconnect between the policies implemented and the high need for social support. This void generated a profound inequality in access to social assistance and limits the possibilities for improvement for many families who continue to face economic and social difficulties, as can be deduced from reading the document from the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services.
Little financial support
Another aspect that aggravates the situation in Castile-La Mancha is the low amount of aid. In 2024, the average amount of Minimum Integration Income in the region represented 1.6% of the average income per household, which highlights the insufficiency of this aid to cover the basic needs of beneficiaries. This figure places Castile-La Mancha in one of the last positions in terms of economic aid provided for the Minimum Integration Income, well below other autonomous communities such as the Balearic Islands, where the amount reaches 33% of the average income.
The low percentage of income represented by the Minimum Insertion Income in Castile-La Mancha reflects the limited capacity of this aid to effectively reduce poverty. Despite the growing poverty rate in the region (34.2%), Like Andalusia (35.6%) and Extremadura (32.4%), the weak economic support remains insufficient to offer a real solution to the situation of the most vulnerable.
While some autonomous communities have increased their budget for the minimum integration income, as is the case of the Canary Islands (139.1%) and the Balearic Islands (58.4%), Castilla-La Mancha has chosen to reduce its funds. This reduction in investment affects not only the number of people who can access aid, but also the quality of the support provided.
And the drop in the budget allocated to the Minimum Integration Income is one of the most pronounced at the national level. Since the implementation of the Minimum Living Income, expenditure devoted to these integration aids has decreased by 88.2%, which represents a loss of more than 11 million euros since 2020. In 2024, the budget allocated to this aid has been reduced to only 1.5 million euros, which limits the capacity of the regional executive to support the most needy citizens, particularly in a context of high poverty and social exclusion.
Social protection system
The combination of low coverage, insufficient amounts and budget cuts, as indicated by professionals in the social sector, reflects an unsustainable situation for many citizens of Castile-La Mancha, with the second poverty rate in the country and the Minimum Integration Income in decline in budget allocation from 2020 to 2024.
In this way, the lack of resources and the limited scope of social assistance highlight, professionals explain, the urgent need to reform the social protection system in Castilla-La Mancha, as highlighted by the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, which They advocate that a more inclusive approach adapted to the realities of the region is necessary. ensure that those who need it most have access to support that enables them to overcome poverty and social exclusion.
Finally, from this association, in global terms of the country as a whole, they emphasize that if we analyze the people benefiting from the minimum subsistence income and the minimum income, It is estimated that in Spain 1,454,271 people benefit from it. to be in a situation of poverty, excluding from this data citizens who receive the minimum subsistence income to have the State supplement for child support, one of the improvements introduced in the law on minimum subsistence income which entered into force on February 1, 2022 as a key instrument of support for children.
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