Having a job in Spain no longer guarantees escaping poverty when paying market-rate rent.
Thus concludes a report published this Tuesday by Oxfam Intermón, which estimates that housing costs push an additional 770,000 working individuals below the poverty line in Spain, bringing the total to nearly three million.
The study, prepared by Alejandro García-Gil, who is in charge of housing, employment, and social policies for the organization, is based on the 2025 Living Conditions Survey from the INE, using income data from 2024.
The methodology does not apply a fixed threshold: it subtracts rent, mortgage, and property taxes from each household's income and recalculates the median to reflect the actual economic capacity after covering housing expenses.
Before deducting those costs, 11.48% of employed individuals —about 2.2 million— were already in a situation of labor poverty in 2024. Once housing expenses are included, the rate rises to 15.49%, an increase of more than four percentage points.
Rent, the most devastating factor
The impact is particularly severe among those renting at market prices. According to estimates from Oxfam Intermón, their labor poverty rate rises from 19.35% before paying rent to 34.08% afterward: one in three working tenants falls below the poverty line after paying rent, representing a relative increase of 76%.
The gap with other ownership regimes is significant: among those who still pay a mortgage, the rate after housing costs is 10.22%; among those who have already paid off their home, it drops to 7.95%.
"Evictions are the most extreme face of the housing crisis, but they are not the only one. There is another, less visible reality: people who work and manage to barely pay for their homes each month, but after doing so, do not have sufficient income to sustain a decent life," García-Gil points out.
Families with children and more affected territories
Families with children under 18 are experiencing the most severe conditions: labor poverty is nearing 40% in households with three or more children and reaches 29.6% in single-parent families, after accounting for housing costs.
By autonomous communities, Madrid leads the increase by including housing expenses: it rises from 7.29% to 12.73%, a jump of 5.44 points. It is followed by Catalonia (from 7.90% to 12.86%) and Murcia (from 15.37% to 20.23%). Andalusia records the highest rate in the country: 17.65% before housing and 20.98% after.
The report also highlights that labor poverty has hardly decreased between 2022 and 2024—from 11.64% to 11.48%—despite the fact that GDP grew by more than 6% during that period, demonstrating that economic growth does not automatically benefit the most vulnerable workers.
What does this mean for Cubans in Spain?
For Cubans who are working or considering emigrating to Spain—a community that reached around 287,490 registered residents in early 2026—this data is especially relevant. Although the study does not provide figures broken down by nationality, the profile of the most affected worker aligns with that of many newcomers: an immigrant, renting at market prices, and employed in low-skilled sectors.
More than 68% of non-EU citizens in Spain live in rented accommodation, compared to 13.1% of Spaniards, and Latin American workers earn on average at least 31% less than their Spanish counterparts.
The national average rent reached 15.1 euros per square meter in May 2026, a record high, with Madrid at 23.4 euros per square meter.
The report is published amidst a widespread social mobilization for housing in Spain. The Government approved two royal decree-laws in response to the recent protests, which Oxfam Intermón regards as a partial improvement.
According to the new rental measures approved in Spain, one of the decrees has been in effect since October 1st, while the second is awaiting publication in the Official State Gazette and parliamentary approval.
"An effective housing policy must not only ensure a roof over one's head but also guarantee living with dignity under it," concludes García-Gil.
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