The Government, Desperate: Increases Aid 5 Days Before Elections

There are five days left until the general elections, and the coalition government parties are desperately trying to reverse the polls. The last Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday an increase in dependency aid and the extension of home care hours.

The reform of the dependency system, promoted by Ione Belarra's Ministry of Social Rights, will benefit 750,000 people. It is part of the legislative agreements between PSOE and Podemos, against the PP's cuts in 2012.

Undoubtedly, an electoral hook for PSOE, which has come out to announce the measure in a press conference despite it being the responsibility of Ione Belarra's ministry.

The Government Increases Dependency Aid

Under these changes, aid for family care increases by 17.6%. The 540,000 people who receive this aid will go from 153 euros per month to 180 (grade 1), from 268 euros to 315 (grade 2), and from 387 to 455 (grade 3).

Service aid will increase by 4.5%. The maximum amount for grades 2 and 3 for residential care will be equalized (747 euros per month), and those for grades 1 and 2 for day center service (455 euros). About 200,000 will benefit from this increase.

Personal assistance aid, received by 10,000 people, will also increase by 4.5%. Those in grade 1 will go from receiving 300 to 313 euros, and those in grades 2 and 3 will go from 426 and 715 to 747 euros per month.

Under the new decree, new cases will see an increase in home care hours. The ministry estimates that it will benefit about 30,000 people by the end of the year. Hours increase from 20 to 37 for grade 1, from 21-45 to 38-64 for grade 2, and from 46-70 to 65-94 for grade 3.

PSOE's Electoral Hook

The Council of Ministers now approves these aids that were agreed last year with the Territorial Council. The measure will be financed with the budget increase for dependency, from 1.38 billion euros in 2020 to 3.3 billion in 2023.

This latest increase in aid approved by the government allows Pedro Sánchez and Yolanda Díaz to present the "successes" of their management. However, it has been the socialists who have presented the increase. In the last 29 Councils of Ministers, Podemos ministers have only appeared twice.