THE NEW POVERTY AND THE ANSWER FROM THE SPANISH PROTECTION SYSTEM. CHALLENGES AND ALTERNATIVES IN THE ADMISSION TO THE ARAGONESE INCLUSION PROGRAM. THE CASE OF THE ALTO GÁLLEGO REGION (HUESCA, SPAIN).

Abstract

The current economic crisis has substantially changed the user profile of Primary Care Social Services. An obvious example are the present beneficiaries of the Minimum Insertion Income (economical compensation for people with low incomes), which can be considered as a new group of users responding to the social situation that is known as "new poverty". The appearance of this new group has forced the public administrations to incorporate new economic benefits in the State’s protection system. In this paper we analyze the response of the Spanish Public Employment System through its portfolio of services and unemployment benefits, as well as the Minimum Income Programs currently in force at each Spanish Autonomous Region; we will see how, rather than complemented, overlap each other. It is made evident that the similarities between the two systems of protection (national and regional) as well as the sharing of common users, should force a merger of the two systems or, at least, a joint work of both of them. We will see a clear example by analyzing the evolution of the Aragonese Insertion Income in the Alto Gállego (Huesca, Spain) and the current profile of its beneficiaries in this new social reality.