Spain Steps Up Poverty and Unemployment Battle by Paying Basic Income to Poorest Residents

SPAIN’S poorest people are to get around €500 per month in a basic income plan that has been approved by the government.

The plan has been spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic, and has set the support at roughly half of the minimum wage of €1,108 per month per person.

The government says that people aged between 23 and 65 years with assets of less than €16,614, which don’t include their home and certain loans, will be eligible.

Deputy Prime Minister, and leader of the left-wing Podemos Party, Pablo Iglesias said: “It is a historic day for our democracy and the government is going for social justice and that it takes the Constitution seriously.”

The money the government will hand out will depend on the number of family members but will not go over the €1,105 monthly figures.

The handout will cover around 2.3 million people in Spain at an annual cost of €3 billion according to the Social Security Minister, Jose Luis Escriva.

Spain’s coalition government, led by the PSOE Socialists under PM Pedro Sanchez in partnership with minor party Podemos, had previously pledged to put in a minimum wage into place ahead of the pandemic striking.

The fragile economy and fears of a return to mass unemployment last seen less than a decade ago, has sparked the announcement of the financial package.