There is also poverty in the Basque Country
- Poverty does not exist only in the third world. It seems almost topical to hear that we live well in the Basque Country. The reality, however, is that not everyone lives so well. There is also poverty in the Basque Country, although its economic growth is around 4%. There are places of poverty and exclusion around us. The data that supports this have appeared: Some 60,000 Basque citizens live thanks to the five food banks in our country – Alava, Lapurdi, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Upper Navarre.
Juan Mari Arregi
2007ko abenduaren 10
Juan Mari Arregi analista sozioekonomikoaDani Blanco
Even if it sounds like a lie, it's true. Many Basque families live on the edge of poverty and often hide their grave situation of poverty in their social environment. The sector that has become known as the “Fourth World” is growing more and more as a result of immigrant balances. In 2006, five banks distributed 6,000 tons of food. The banks of Bizkaia and Upper Navarre are the ones that have distributed the most food. In Navarre, almost two million kilos of food were classified and almost 25,500 recipients were counted. In Bizkaia, 1,900 tons were distributed among 17,000 beneficiaries.
We could not forget that in the Basque Country, 33,824 families receive the basic income of the Administration. The basic income is 12% lower than the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (557 euros) and 20% lower in the case of Navarre. It should be remembered that the Spanish State’s Interprofessional Minimum Wage is below the EU average, in particular, it is 40% lower. It is true that immigration has grown considerably, reaching 120,000 people today in the Southern Basque Country, a sector that receives part of the basic income.
Meanwhile, within the framework of Basque policy, there is a struggle for the reduction of taxes on companies in particular. The issue persists in Gipuzkoa. Some want a 30% discount, others want to go beyond it to be 24%. In the budgets of each administration there is a desire to limit the Interprofessional Minimum Wage as much as possible, as in the case of social benefits. The lake has forgiven 632 million businessmen in the Association Tax, double what it offers to basic income, while Navarre has forgiven another 250 million. The lake allocates annually, by quota, 1,805 million euros of our taxes to the military expenditure of the administrations. While workers’ wages have increased by a maximum of 3%, employers’ benefits are increasing dramatically.
It is all the fault of neoliberal or capitalist economic and fiscal policy, which benefits the rich and entrepreneurs, allows fraud, creates spaces of poverty and exclusion and imposes the majority of the tax burden on the workers. The payroll holder cannot escape the tax requirements. The administrations know where the fraud is going and sometimes they seem to look the other way. Politicians who agree to increase their sufficiently high salaries should respond with honesty, certainty, strength and determination to the situation of poverty of the sixty thousand Basque citizens who live next to us.
We could not forget that in the Basque Country, 33,824 families receive the basic income of the Administration. The basic income is 12% lower than the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (557 euros) and 20% lower in the case of Navarre. It should be remembered that the Spanish State’s Interprofessional Minimum Wage is below the EU average, in particular, it is 40% lower. It is true that immigration has grown considerably, reaching 120,000 people today in the Southern Basque Country, a sector that receives part of the basic income.
Meanwhile, within the framework of Basque policy, there is a struggle for the reduction of taxes on companies in particular. The issue persists in Gipuzkoa. Some want a 30% discount, others want to go beyond it to be 24%. In the budgets of each administration there is a desire to limit the Interprofessional Minimum Wage as much as possible, as in the case of social benefits. The lake has forgiven 632 million businessmen in the Association Tax, double what it offers to basic income, while Navarre has forgiven another 250 million. The lake allocates annually, by quota, 1,805 million euros of our taxes to the military expenditure of the administrations. While workers’ wages have increased by a maximum of 3%, employers’ benefits are increasing dramatically.
It is all the fault of neoliberal or capitalist economic and fiscal policy, which benefits the rich and entrepreneurs, allows fraud, creates spaces of poverty and exclusion and imposes the majority of the tax burden on the workers. The payroll holder cannot escape the tax requirements. The administrations know where the fraud is going and sometimes they seem to look the other way. Politicians who agree to increase their sufficiently high salaries should respond with honesty, certainty, strength and determination to the situation of poverty of the sixty thousand Basque citizens who live next to us.