The investment of the community as a whole destined for health, education and social services has grown by 7%, compared to the 35% that the rest of the items have risen, despite the health and social crisis caused by covid
Madrid, Catalonia and Murciaare the only autonomous communities that have reduced social spending (health, education and social services) since the pandemic, according to a study by the Association of Directors and Managers in Social Services.
The report shows the 7% increase in the spending dedicated by the autonomous communities to these three areas over which they have powers compared to 2019, while the items allocated to the rest of the policies rose by 34%.
In the set of communitiescurrent spending on social policies has increased by 8,526.8 million euros between 2019 and 2021, details this analysis prepared with data from the Ministry of Finance and the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
“The health crisis and social crisis caused by covid demonstrated the importance of spending on essential public services such as health, education and social services; however, the increase in spending on these policies managed by the communities has been barely 7% between 2019 and 2021, while it rose five times more than that allocated to the other areas“, explains the president of the association of social managers, José Manuel Ramírez.
More state funding
According to the study, state transfers show “a significant increase” that reaches 23,701 million euros in this period. “This increase in state funding has not been reflected to the same extent in an increase in social spending in the communities”, Ramírez points out, who stresses “the meager growth of 3.5% in health spending (2,356 million more) taking into account the situation of pandemic”.
The evolution of spending on social policies has been very uneven. By amount, almost all the communities -except Catalonia, Madrid and Murcia- have exceeded in 2021 the social spending per inhabitant that they had in 2019. Castilla-La Mancha stands out with an increase of 515 euros and La Rioja with 487; it is reduced in Catalonia, by 134; Madrid, 119, and Murcia, 65 euros.
If the percentage of the budget allocated to social policies is observed, 12 of the 17 reduce it, being especially pronounced in the Community of Madrid (10.18%) and Asturias (6.72%), followed by Extremadura (5.93 %) and Catalonia (5.55%).
Expenditure per inhabitant
Considering the expenditure per inhabitant in 2021, the 2,202 euros that Madrid invests in consolidating its social rights contrast with the 3,748 euros of Navarra and the 3,570 of the Basque Country.
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“It took 10 years and a pandemic to recover social spending“, regrets the person in charge of that association. The 116.9 million that the autonomies allocated to social policies in 2009, were not exceeded until 2019 when 122.5 million were spent.
However, spending on other policies has continued to rise: if in 2008 its cost was 121 euros per inhabitant, in 2021 it was seven times more (840 euros), “thus limiting the ability of communities to increase their spending on health, education and social services”, states the document.