Foreign workers in Spain are more likely to earn less or be unemployed than Spaniards. Students who come from another country are also more likely to drop out of school or be bullied in class. And this discrimination, in addition to being unfair and marking the life of those who suffer it, also negatively affects the entire state economy, causing it to lose close to 17 billion euros, according to a new report from the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia, commissioned by the Ministry of Migration, which elDiario.es has accessed.
The study, prepared by professors from the Autonomous University of Madrid, reveals the extent of labor and educational discrimination between the native population and the foreign population residing in Spain, also analyzing how this inequality affects the state economy. According to their calculations, the economic impact amounts to about 17 billion euros, which represents 1.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The results are known shortly before the upcoming approval of a new regulation of the Immigration Law, with which the Ministry of Migration intends to make the access of foreign citizens to residence and work authorizations more flexible.
“We are talking about a gross detriment of resources of enormous magnitude, equivalent, for example, to a good part of the total personnel expenses of the general budgets of the State in 2022 or to approximately more than half of the collection from corporate tax that same year. year (32 million euros),” warn the authors, Ramón Mahía Casado and Eva Medina Moral. According to their analysis, the economic effect is mainly explained by the salary remuneration that the discriminated foreign population no longer receives, either at work or also in education – with the consequent effect on their future income.
At work, research detects that foreign residents are 5% more likely to be unemployed than natives for reasons of discrimination. In this case, the report estimates its effect on the economy at around 5.1 billion euros, approximately 0.38% of GDP.
Spain also wastes foreign talent more frequently than Spanish. The study points out that immigrant employees are 15% more likely than natives to work in a position below their qualifications. “The analysis reveals that the differences in moderate overqualification for foreign workers with higher education that may eventually be due to discrimination are 15%,” the document maintains.
This discrimination that forces thousands of immigrants to work in a lower-skilled profession is valued at nearly 2.8 billion euros, which represents 0.21% of GDP.
Inequality also impacts the salaries of the foreign population, especially those of immigrant women. The salary gap between the foreign and native population that occurs due to discrimination factors reaches 2.2% of the average salary of both groups, according to the report. Individually, the difference may seem anecdotal, since foreign citizens receive an average of 48 euros per month, according to the study. However, the cut at the macroeconomic level goes much further, reaching 2.2 billion euros annually, which is equivalent to 0.17% of GDP, according to the study.
“Wage gaps are very significant and wage discrimination seems evident and very important,” the authors conclude.
Discrimination also affects the foreign population in the educational field. Researchers perceive a “marked inequality” in access to education, as well as in the school dropout rate. “The foreign population faces a lower school enrollment rate and a greater probability of dropping out of school due to their origin,” the document concludes.
The discrimination suffered by students from another country begins in access to schooling, where the study identifies 17% more schooling among native students than immigrants, valued at up to 3,398 million euros, 0.25% of the GDP.
After school access, discrimination does not stop. The analysis indicates that “the stress processes associated with migratory processes” and “the higher rates of harassment” detected among immigrant students end up translating into higher levels of dropout among foreign students, which reach an economic cost of 102 million euros, according to their calculations.
The greatest economic impact linked to educational discrimination is found in the unequal access to university between foreign and native students after finishing high school, quantified at 3,889 million euros, 80% of the total cost identified in the field of studies. The research also highlights the discrimination found in the transition from the first stage of ESO to the second stage of vocationally oriented secondary education (17% less among students from another country).
One of the few areas where there is a lower dropout rate among the foreign population than the Spanish population is in Vocational Training training cycles. However, the authors qualify the finding: “Given that it is calculated based on expectations, the result could be explained by a better academic result compared to native students who carry out the same studies, which could indicate an overpresence of students foreigners in Vocational Training cycles who could also have successfully completed other types of studies,” they warn.
Government measures
Given the discrimination rates indicated by the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE), the Ministry of Migration – on which OBERAXE depends – claims to be working on a series of measures aimed at closing gaps such as those documented in the report with the objective to “promote social cohesion and integration of people who arrive in our country.”
Among one of the measures that the Ministry considers will serve to reduce discrimination is the reform of the regulations of the Immigration Law, which aims to facilitate access to residence and work authorizations for migrant citizens. The department led by Elma Saiz intends to carry out the regulatory modification in the Council of Ministers this Tuesday, as confirmed by the minister in a recent interview with elDiario.es. However, its approval could be delayed to the next Council for reasons linked to the effects of DANA.
“13 years have passed since such an ambitious comprehensive reform of the regulations of the Immigration Law was addressed. This reform adapts to the current immigration context, where it is imperative to promote the full integration of foreign people in our country, guaranteeing them the same rights and obligations as native citizens,” defend ministerial sources.
The report also serves as “a first approach” to the situation of discrimination in Spain, with the aim of promoting the National Plan for Integration and Intercultural Coexistence, announced by Pedro Sánchez a month ago in the Congress of Deputies, which aims to “ have resources and measures to promote the integration of foreigners into society, looking for formulas that, in addition to helping the labor and social inclusion of migrants, avoid mistakes and situations of the past,” they detail from Migrations.
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