The Minimum Vital Income (IMV) payroll in February reached 14,444 households in La Rioja in which 4,652 people live, according to the latest statistics published by the National Social Security Institute (INSS). The average amount of the benefit in the autonomous community of La Rioja is 523.83 euros per month per household and, overall, this month’s payroll has amounted to 2.72 million euros.
The IMV is a policy aimed at preventing the risk of poverty and social exclusion of people who live alone or are integrated into a unit of coexistence and lack basic economic resources.
Both by the profile of the holders and the beneficiaries, we can say that the Minimum Vital Income has a marked female profile. In February, 57.2% of the headlines (2,661) and 52.6% of the beneficiaries are women, specifically 7,598.
Context: women and poverty
“The fact that the face of the holder and the beneficiary of the Minimum Vital Income is female is not a coincidence,” explained the Minister of Inclusion, Elma Saiz. “If you look at the 2024 INE Living Conditions Survey, women have worse indices in all poverty indicators, and more specifically in severe poverty, the reduction of which is a fundamental goal for the IMV. We have the best data from the last decade, but the gap is still there and the IMV is a great tool to address it.”
According to the Living Conditions Survey of 2024, recently published by the INE, severe poverty has a higher incidence in women than in men for the adult population: half a point in the case of women of working age and almost two in those over 65 years of age. This gap is even greater in the case of the overall poverty rate, which is 4.5 points for women over the age of 65, and 1.5 points for women of working age (18-64). Likewise, the risk rate of poverty and/or social exclusion (AROPE) is also higher among women than among adult men.
Childhood and IMV
One of the main objectives of the Minimum Vital Income is child poverty, an aspect that also implies a gender dimension, something especially marked in the case of single-parent households: 96% of households in Spain where there is only one adult, this is a woman (data from January, last available).
Overall, more than two-thirds of the households covered by the IMV in La Rioja include minors, specifically 67.9%. In total, there are 3,130 households with minors among which there are 758 single parents.
On the other hand, 42.8% of the beneficiaries are children and adolescents, in particular, 6,181.
One of the main tools to combat the risk of child poverty is the Child Aid Supplement (CAPI). This month, the ICSC has reached 3,137 units of coexistence in La Rioja. This form of IMV involves an aid of 115 euros per household per month in the case of children from 0 to 3 years; 80.5 euros per month for each child between 3 and 6 years; and 57.5 euros per month for each child between 6 and 18 years. The average amount of the supplement in February was 66.65 euros for each child in La Rioja and 131.81 euros per household with children.
Almost 20,000 people protected since its creation in La Rioja
In February, there were 782 more active benefits than there were a year ago in this same period in the autonomous community, which represents an increase of 20.21%. In these Rioja households there are 2,718 beneficiaries more than those registered in February 2024 (+23.18%).
In cumulative terms since June 2020, when this benefit was launched, in the midst of a pandemic, the IMV has reached 6,606 homes in La Rioja and has protected the 19,998 people who are part of them, being more than 9,000 children and adolescents, in particular 9,098, 45.5% of the total.
Since the entry into force of this policy, Social Security has allocated 103.9 million euros to pay the payroll for this benefit in La Rioja.