A total of 21,514 family units in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, made up of 45,612 people, go to the municipal Social Services to request financial aid to cover expenses for rent, water, electricity or food.
Situations of precariousness that have increased by 3% compared to last year and that translate into the growth of the percentage of vulnerable population in the capital of Chicharrera, as stated yesterday by the councilor responsible for the Municipal Institute of Social Care (IMAS) of the capital’s City Council. , Charín González.
For this reason, the councilor asserted that the City Council will increase the budget item for 2024 to 11 million euros for the granting of economic social assistance benefits (PEAS), one and a half million more than in the last year, in order to alleviate the high rate of social exclusion suffered by many families in the municipality and compensate for the minimum vital income that, one year after its creation, only reaches 14.9% of the population in severe poverty. In this sense, he explained that “the amount allocated to PEAS will represent almost 40% of the budget of the Social Action area for 2024, which stands at a total of 29.7 million euros, three million more than in 2023, with “the objective of addressing the economic need and social vulnerability of users of Social Services.”
Basic aid that last year amounted to 93,252 concessions, compared to 11,484 in 2011, which translates into “each year around 10,000 more economic benefits are being granted,” González stressed, “aimed at helping families cover vital needs ranging from rental aid of up to 3,000 euros per year or food checks worth 140 euros per person.”
In the opinion of the councilor, “the increase in the most basic benefits demonstrates the growth of economic need and social vulnerability of the population that uses Social Services. Indicators that have become worse with the increase in energy costs and the rise in prices of basic products.”
The person in charge of IMAS highlighted that “while the percentage of people who do not have problems decreases, the percentage of those who do have problems in terms of housing, employment, consumption and health grows, motivated by economic barriers to health care, excessive health expenses. rentals, poverty and serious job instability, which are the most frequent situations that affect 15% of the municipality’s population and increase social exclusion in poor or income-less households; households headed by someone looking for employment, or by someone of foreign nationality.”
Therefore, one of the area’s challenges will focus on promoting a new strategic plan for the next eight years. “The idea is to create an exclusive financial aid management unit in the Social Work Units (UTS). A change of model focused on its reconversion into social care centers, where the burden is freed from social workers so that they can dedicate themselves more to intervention with families and vulnerable users, while specific personnel can take care of other procedures linked to said care.” , he concluded.
