ABSTRACT
There is more poverty in Spain than in most European countries. Despite the huge development of the main redistributive policies of the Welfare State, Spain’s income poverty levels and inequality indices stand out among EU Member States. Relative poverty tended to decrease in Spain throughout the period 1973–90; but the initial levels were so high that the proportion of households below the poverty threshold was still greater than in other Western countries. Poverty rates remained practically unchanged when the Spanish economy experienced a strong and rapid economic expansion in the following decades.
