Maybe you have heard it or even thought about it. That “Gypsies live on the minimum living income (IMV)” or “aids”. Like so many other prejudices, especially those that point towards minorities, they have a strong impact on society, but they do not adjust to reality. This was highlighted on Thursday by economics professor Sara de la Rica, director of the ISEAK Foundation, who presented a study on the extent of the anti-poverty benefits in this community, commissioned by the Secretariado Gitano Foundation. Main result: the IMV only affects 29% of Roma who are entitled to aid.
In fact, the IMV reaches fewer Roma people eligible for support than what happens in society at large. “The IMV reaches only 29% of the total potentially eligible Roma population who meet the requirements, compared to 35% of the general population in social exclusion according to the estimate proposed in the second AIREF report,” the report states.
The limited data on IMV coverage can be expressed in another way: 71% of Roma entitled to this benefit, vulnerable and poor people, do not receive it.
Sara De la Rica emphasized “providing evidence” of reality, “because there is really a lot of ignorance and a lot of demagogy and we have to fight against that.” In another study, focused on the perception of migrants by the general population, the professor confirmed “the impressive lack of knowledge” about “the employment situation, unemployment, how they receive social benefits, their spending and their use of public services.”
The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, who participated in the presentation of the study, recognized the need to “improve” the minimum living income, a “very young” benefit, she recalled, since it was approved in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. Saiz pledged to continue analyzing and revising the IMV, with the aim of reducing the number of excluded people entitled to aid.
Bureaucratic barriers and long waits
Sara de la Rica and Lucía Gorjón, one of the ISEAK researchers responsible for the study, pointed out that the Roma population is generally more aware of the existence of the minimum living income than other sectors of the population. With high poverty rates (90% of children) and 52% of Roma households entitled to the IMV, the community maintains good relations with public administrations and other social organizations such as the Secretariado Gitano, which have informed them of the existence of the aid.
But it is one thing to know about the help and another to receive it. The researchers highlighted some of the main obstacles that prevent potential beneficiaries from enjoying this right, among which they highlighted the need for “assistance or support” to request help due to the difficulty of processing it. At this point, Gorjón provided information on the relevance of the support: among the respondents who collaborate with the Secretariado Gitano, IMV coverage increases “from 29% to 44%.”
Other major obstacles to not receiving benefits include long waits, “processing times or rejections due to bureaucratic complexities or the inability to accredit certain requirements.” The average IMV processing time among those surveyed reaches 9 and a half months. “This is a school year and we are talking about people in extreme need, who are therefore requesting this benefit,” Lucía Gorjón stressed.
“There are other challenges related to limited internet access, high mobility of household members and variability of income over time,” the report says.
And although the Roma population is generally aware of the IMV, the researchers have drawn attention to a major blind spot: the so-called CAPI, a supplement intended to help children. This is a per-child benefit of between 57 and 115 euros per month for low-income families, which, as AIReF has pointed out, is deeply unknown among the population, meaning that it reaches even fewer people who are entitled to it.
They don’t get job offers
The researchers also highlighted the relevance of other integration, work and education policies, which should complement the IMV so that the allowance is only a transit aid towards a better and autonomous situation for families.
In this sense, 28% of the Roma population that benefits from the IMV works, but with insufficient family income, and a high percentage, 72%, does not work. Of the latter, 38% of respondents say they have looked for a job, 30% want to work, but have not looked for a job (so-called discouraged), and 32% are not looking for a job and have not expressed their willingness to work. Lucía Gorjón has disintegrated.
Economists point out that “95% of IMV beneficiaries do not receive job offers” from public employment services. “If you do not receive offers, it is normal to become discouraged,” Gorjón said. Regarding training, only 22% of those surveyed had received it, a percentage that rises to 40% among those who collaborate with the Secretariado Gitano Foundation.
Another key lever to break the chronic nature of poverty and inheritance from parents to children, educational support, had only reached 12% of households. “This is a very low figure,” Gorjón criticized.
Among the ISEAK Foundation’s proposals for improvement, De la Rica recommended universalizing the income declaration for all people over 18, and the interoperability of data between different administrations, “simplifying procedures”, “improving communication” (especially CAPI), a single window to serve families with these aids and other integration policies, and the modernization and improvement of public employment services, among others.
