Aid per child of up to 115 euros per month skyrockets although it can still reach a million more homes

Aid per child of up to 115 euros per month has increased by almost 50% in the last year. This is the so-called Childhood Assistance Complement (CAPI), created in 2022 and linked to the minimum vital income, but which many more families can collect than the beneficiaries of the state minimum income. According to the calculations of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF), it should reach one million more households, something that does not happen due to lack of knowledge and confusion about this aid, as well as due to the complexity of requesting it, among other reasons that NGOs stand out.

The CAPI aid They can be of three amounts: 115 euros per month in the case of children from 0 to 3 years old, 80.50 euros per month for those over three years old and under six years old and, finally, 57.50 euros per month six. years and those under 18 years of age.

As of December 2024, the CAPI reached a total of 472,604 households, of which 220,157 are families receiving the minimum vital income (IMV) and another 252,447 households receive only CAPI child aid. It is in this second group where there has been a significant increase in beneficiaries in the last year, of “49%”, Social Security responds to this medium. That is, the CAPI reaches around 82,500 more families than at the end of 2023.

In fact, the expansion of these benefits per child is what most explains the boost in the minimum vital income last year, with 27% more beneficiaries, 141,500 more households, according to the Ministry headed by Elma Saiz. This increase includes both the “basic IMV”, the “complete IMV” (the minimum income together with child benefits) and the “IMV-CAPI”, which is only the CAPI but is called by Social Security. so because it is considered a type of minimum vital income.

More knowledge of aid and more child poverty

Regarding the possible reasons for this large increase in CAPI beneficiaries, Social Security recalls that these aids are more recent than the minimum vital income and are “unfolding their potential.” While the IMV was launched in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the CAPI came into force in 2022, replacing the previous benefits for dependent children, which had a lower amount (49 euros per month). “Its potential is considerably greater than that of the IMV, so it is logical that it has had a greater increase,” they indicate in the department of Elma Saiz.

At Save the Children they consider that this deployment responds to “several factors.” The NGO highlights “greater knowledge of the IMV among the most vulnerable families, in part thanks to the dissemination efforts of both public administrations and social organizations,” says Carmela del Moral, head of Childhood Policies.

As context, despite the general decrease in poverty and inequality in Spain, the latest official data on child poverty increased. The AROPE rate, on children and adolescents living at risk of poverty and social exclusion, reached 34.5% in 2023 (compared to 32.2% the previous year). More than one in three minors are in this situation, an entrenched problem that places Spain at the head of Europe.

Furthermore, after the inflation crisis of recent years, some of the indicators of material deprivation have increased, such as the difficulty in eating meat or fish, which affects 6% of the population, and the problems in heating homes, that is, That is, energy poverty, which affects almost 21% of society. Both data are at historical highs.

One million families have the right and do not charge them

Despite the important push in the last year, there is still a large majority of families entitled to these benefits per child who do not receive them. According to the latest AIReF estimates, corresponding to 2023, almost 1.4 million households are entitled to the CAPI. That is to say, the aid should be reaching a million more families.

If the “complete” IMV is taken into account, with the CAPI, the number of potential beneficiaries amounts to a total of 1.8 million households with children, the Tax Authority calculated.

The NGOs specialized in poverty grouped in the EAPN have long insisted on the need to revamp the CAPI so that it reaches more people. From the name, which they consider does not facilitate the dissemination of the aid, to its own link with the minimum vital income, which generates confusion among those who are not entitled to the minimum income (but are entitled to child benefits) and which suffers from the problems of complexity and excessive bureaucracy that are often criticized about the IMV.

“Administrative barriers represent a great challenge, especially for families who are in a vulnerable situation. Complex procedures, documentary requirements that are difficult to meet and the lack of support during the application process can discourage many families from starting or completing the necessary procedures,” analyzes Carmela del Moral.

At Save The Children they demand moving towards simpler procedures, the automation of applications for those who meet the requirements and also ask to review some criteria to access the aid itself, “such as reference income or the composition of family units.” “Often, these parameters do not reflect the reality of families at risk and can leave out people who need support,” adds Carmela del Moral.

The Ministry of Social Security maintains that “the IMV is a benefit that is constantly being evaluated” and that it is always “studying possibilities for improvement” and working “to reach the greatest number of households in need.”

Specifically, Elma Saiz’s department highlights several measures that are “allowing greater clarity, agility and transparency” such as the free 020 telephone number and the launch of a new Social Security website “to facilitate access to information and procedures on benefits.” “We have just formed a working group to facilitate easy reading and make the information understandable for all people when requesting the IMV and CAPI,” add sources from the Ministry.

Save The Children also calls for “analyzing whether the current CAPI amounts are sufficient to cover the cost of parenting” and whether the age thresholds make sense. “Although it is common for social policies to prioritize the childhood stage, between 0 and 3 years, our analyzes show that the cost of parenting increases with age, being especially high in adolescence due to higher expenses on food, education, technology, transportation and extracurricular activities,” explains Del Moral.

Furthermore, although the minimum vital income is updated every year (with a 9% increase in 2025), the same has not happened with the CAPI, whose amounts have remained the same as last year. In Social Security, the increase in aid for those affected by DANA stands out, of 30%, as a sign that these are “living benefits that adapt to changes in the needs of families.”

Save The Children calls for a stable updating system that takes into account the costs of parenting. “This would only provide greater stability and predictability to families, but would also strengthen the effectiveness of the CAPI as a key tool to reduce child poverty in Spain,” the NGO considers.

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