This challenge is measured with the indicators that we show below. The interpretation of the figures is explained in the rest of the section.

Avoiding situations of severe poverty is a fundamental challenge to improve material living conditions and meet the most basic social needs. Material deficiencies are, however, a daily reality for a large proportion of Spanish society. Material living conditions clearly improved in the years immediately prior to the crisis, and worsened as it took hold. It is often thought that material deprivation indicators change more slowly than those for monetary poverty. However, the recent crisis had an early impact on these indicators.
Among other effects of the crisis, some that stand out are the increase in the difficulty of replacing old clothes, having a small amount of money to spend on oneself, as well as the worsening of the indicators relating to having a social life. This increase reflects the difficulties faced by a growing number of people in maintaining their social participation levels. On the other hand, indicators such as not being able to have a week's annual holiday, linked to situations of lesser severity, or not being able to replace damaged or old pieces of furniture with new ones, recorded relatively lower increases between 2009 and 2013, although they continued to be the most widespread deficiencies among the population (40%). In all European countries, and Spain is no exception, this was the type of spending that was the first to be cut after the start of the crisis.
It is concerning to note that during the crisis, in addition to increases in monetary poverty and the material deprivation of families, the chronicity of these situations increased to the point where it had doubled. The percentage of individuals living at risk of poverty for three or more consecutive years increased from 6.5% to 13.5% of the population between 2008 and 2016.
People receiving low income over a prolonged period of time suffer more severe long-term deprivation in very diverse areas (employment, salaries, health or social relations), something that must be taken into account in order to properly design anti-poverty programmes.
CHRONIC RISK OF POVERTY
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Individuals who live for three or more consecutive years in households with a monthly income under the poverty line find it much more difficult to overcome their complicated economic situation. In fact, various studies indicate that in many rich countries, the likelihood of being poor today is almost double for someone who was poor in the previous year. The length of time spent in that situation increases the probability of remaining in it.
The consequences of chronic or persistent poverty are much more significant than those of transitory poverty, particularly for young people as it has been proven that this is related to learning difficulties, anti-social
behaviour, poor health and difficulties finding employment when they are older.
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The percentage of people who cannot reach a sufficient level of consumption has also increased. Among the basic household needs, not being able to afford the essentials (regularly eating meat or fish or keeping the house at a suitable temperature) is probably one of the most severe. This problem grew during the crisis and, even more worryingly, it has shown very little improvement during the subsequent period of economic recovery.
Finally, another notable feature of the evolution of poverty is the very significant increase in the percentage of the population who suffer from consistent poverty, that is, they suffer from both monetary poverty and material deprivation, a situation that brings with it a special fragility. In Spain, this group grew during the crisis to reach almost 10% in 2016 and 8.8% in 2017.
All these results for deprivation and chronic poverty are probably linked to the increase in long-term unemployment, which has led to more situations of a prolonged lack of income in households. The reduction in the poverty line during the crisis may also explain why in recent years the situations of relative policy are associated with worse living conditions and more severe economic difficulties than before the start of the crisis.