A report presented on 20 October 2026 by Oxfam Intermón shows that in Spain around 770,000 workers fall below the poverty line after their housing costs are deducted. The analysis is based on the Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística as well as tax data for the reference year 2024.
The key finding is the difference between housing arrangements. According to the calculations, around a third of employees renting on the open market experience income poverty after housing costs. Specifically, the report puts the share of renters at around 34 per cent. Among people with an outstanding Mortgage the poverty rate after housing costs is around 10.22 per cent. Even owners of properties that are already paid off reach around 7.95 per cent when ongoing housing-related expenses are included.
For its definition of poverty, Oxfam Intermón follows Eurostat’s threshold of 60 per cent of median income. For a person living alone, this amounts in the study to an 12,220 euros annual net income. Oxfam stresses that rising housing costs partly neutralise the effects of overall economic growth and entrench poverty. Particularly vulnerable are single parents, young workers and employees in sectors with high levels of part-time and low-paid work, such as hospitality and cleaning services.
Methodologically, the study combines INE cross-sectional data on household living conditions with analyses of income tax data. Drawing on both data sources, Oxfam calculates housing cost burdens for different types of household and shows that housing costs not only increase the risk of poverty, but also eat into the savings and investment opportunities of broad sections of the population.
Clearly distinguished from its assessments, the report lists policy options: targeted expansion of the social housing stock, tighter regulation of the rental market, and transfers limited in duration and amount to ease the burden on low-income households. Oxfam Intermón warns that, without structural intervention, it will be difficult to reduce the number of workers in precarious circumstances in the short term.
The figures given here refer to the reference years and thresholds stated in the report. They identify poverty after housing costs as a key social policy issue in Spain, extending well beyond strained big-city markets and increasingly affecting middle incomes too.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).