EUROPE/SPAIN - Urgent aid requests from Caritas have increased by 40.7% in first half of year, demonstrating the emergence of new forms of poverty

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – The data collected in the third observation report of Caritas, on the evolution of urgent requests for help received by the organization's network of Hospitality and Primary Care in the first half of 2009, shows that there was an increase by 40.7% in comparison to 2008. Most of the responses of the NGO were intended to meet the most pressing needs relating to food and housing costs. Requests for food aid increased by 58%, while the price of providing housing rose by 44.9%. Also presented with this study was the Annual Report of the Confederation of Caritas Spain, composed of 68 diocesan and over 6,000 parish Caritas Centers, which shows that, in 2008, a total of 216,916,013 Euros (8% more than in 2007) was allocated to social programs, benefiting a total of 9,102,406 people in and outside of Spain. The Report Center reports that the profile of people who have turned to Caritas services in the first half of 2009, reveals the emergence of new forms of poverty. The main beneficiaries among the various Diocesan Caritas of the country shows that the people most assisted are: young unemployed people seeking first jobs, job seekers over 45, newly unemployed, young families with small children or dependents, single mothers, immigrant women, and older women with very low pensions. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 24/11/2009)