Spain has duties to do when it comes to protection and social inclusion. In its analysis of social policies, the European Commission places Spain in a “critical situation” in terms of school dropouts, risk of poverty and social exclusion, especially children, or on the impact of social benefits on poverty reduction.
The Brussels report highlights that the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2023, among children, increased to 26.5% and 34.5%, respectively. Both rates are “significantly above the EU average”, which has registered rates of 21.3% and 24.8%, for each of the indicators. Therefore, the Community Executive considers that it is in a “critical situation.”
Brussels attributes this situation to the challenges to be resolved in terms of social protection coverage, due to regional disparities in access to public services and “persistently high working poverty”. Although certain improvements have been recorded in terms of income equality, the inequality ratio remains high and requires observation.
“The effectiveness of social benefits is especially low in reducing the risks of child poverty, 17% compared to 41.4% in the EU. On the other hand, the proportion of children under 3 years of age in formal daycare centers is better than the average in Spain,” the report states.
Of the seventeen indicators assessed by the European Commission, Spain fails in seven: school dropouts, unemployed young people who are also not studying, income inequality, employment and unemployment ratio, people at risk of social exclusion both in adults and children and the impact of social policies in poverty reduction (without considering pensions).
Higher unemployment rate
The European Commission points to Spain as the country with the highest unemployment in the EU. It is not that the data is new, Spain continues to position itself, along with Greece, at the bottom in employment levelsAlthough Brussels considers that the situation has improved significantly, it also points out that it is still in a weak situation, with challenges ahead.
“Although Spain and Greece have by far the highest unemployment rates, with 12.2% and 11.1%, respectively, are in a situation of ‘weakness but improvement’, since both countries experienced declines much higher than the EU average,” indicates the European Commission in its report made public this Wednesday.
The market Spanish labor has improved “notably”, points out the European Commission, however, the challenges remain. “The employment rate increased substantially to 70.5% in 2023, compared to 75.3% in the EU, going from a ‘critical situation’ to a ‘weak but improving’ one,” Brussels states in its analysis.
The reason for this improvement lies in the strong economic growth, the strong expansion of employment of people born outside the EU and a increase in employment in the commercial sectortechnical and scientific professions and job creation in the public sector.
The unemployment rate, at 12.2%, is also in a “weak” situation but with a tendency to improve. “The levels remain very high, despite significant declines, especially among older workers and in the Canary Islands,” notes the European Commission. Real disposable gross family income per capita was ‘weak but improving’ due to strong increase in 2023.
The lack of labor, however, is not as evident in Spain as in other community countries. The report reveals that the highest levels are found in the Netherlands or Belgium, with rates around 4%, compared to Spain or Romania where this figure does not reach 1%.
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