Only 30% of applicants receive income support

The minister of labour, social affairs and families, Chakir el Homrani, acknowledged yesterday that the guaranteed income support for citizens (RGC in Catalan) is granted to only 30% of those who request it.

He also said that 120,004 people currently receive these funds, which amount to about 600 euro a month.

Homrani appeared yesterday at the social affairs parliamentary commission to evaluate how RGC was being implemented and was faced with much criticism from social organizations, who accused him of rejecting most applicants. In response he stated that the rate of acceptance is now 21% higher than it was in June 2017.

The point of the RGC, which came in thanks to a law promoted through a popular legislative initiative (ILP in Catalan), was to guarantee that people and families living below the poverty line can have at least minimum living standards.

The labour minister also argued that due to the application of article 155, which involved Spain taking control over Catalonia’s finances, the regulation that specifies and determines the details of the implementation of the law could not be processed. “Many months have been lost due to the application of the 155” said the minister of labour.