The plight of Spain’s young people revealed: how more than half of those under 30 struggle to make a living

Comprehensive research by BBVA Foundation And that Valencia Economic Research Institute It shed a terrible light on the economic status of young people in Spain.

The latest statistics show that young people who are the breadwinners in their households earn 15% less than the national average, and more than half are struggling to make ends meet.

The study, using data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), also found that 53.2% of Spaniards aged 16 to 29 struggle to cover their expenses, a rate 5.4% higher than the national average. %expensive.

The study authors say the country’s recovery from the financial crisis that lasted from 2008 to 2014 has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, with economic conflicts particularly acute among young people who are undereducated and underqualified. It is written that it was connected to

The study, published in December 2023 and led by Professor Emeritus Francisco Pérez García of the University of Valencia, measures the economic situation of Spanish Millennials and Generation Z in relation to factors such as employment rates, education and salary. The purpose is to

heterogeneous cohort

Researchers reviewed recent data from a variety of sources and found that although common factors such as socio-economic status and education level influence youth employment rates, the age group 16-29 is homogeneous. Far from it, they concluded that a variety of circumstances contribute to economic conditions.

The study describes four main groups: one group includes young people who are neither studying nor working, and the other group includes young people with a university education and a stable, well-paying job. It is.

education is key

Some segments of the young population, particularly older generations such as Millennials and Generation Z, have higher rates of higher education.

Half of 25- to 29-year-olds are studying at university or in vocational training, four times more than in 1980.

Education remains one of the main drivers of social mobility, with students with university education receiving 33.8% higher salaries than those without.

However, the authors pointed out that higher education as a social elevator has its limits, especially for privileged young people from lower socio-economic classes.

“The education system has not prioritized addressing the shortcomings of disadvantaged students in the allocation of resources,” they write.

low salary

Across all groups, the average salary for young people remains 35% below the national average.

In addition to this, the researchers noted that today’s young people are taking longer to reach average income levels than their older counterparts.

Older generations approached this average by the age of 27, but many Spanish adults today still have not reached this average by the age of 34.

The study also found that young people’s working conditions can affect their earning potential.

25.4% of Millennials and members of Generation Z in Spain work on part-time contracts, which is 12% higher than the national average.

According to Eurostat statistics, in 2022, 18.1% of Spain’s employed workers were temporary workers, or people on fixed-term contracts. This is the second highest rate in the EU after the Netherlands.

“Demographic weight loss”

The authors also pointed out that with the population rapidly aging, policymakers are paying less attention to youth issues, which researchers refer to as “depopulation.”

The study highlights that the proportion of young people in Spain’s total population is decreasing.

Although Spain’s population has increased from 34 million in 1971 to 47 million in 2022, the number of people aged 16 to 29 is rapidly decreasing.

The youth population peaked at 9.3 million in 1995, but has since declined to approximately 6.8 million.

On the other hand, the number of elderly people is increasing. In 2022, for every 100 people under the age of 16 there were 133 people over the age of 64.

This trend is consistent across the European Union.

In 2001, 16% of the EU population was over the age of 65, compared to 21% in 2020, and over the same period the share of the EU population over 80 has almost doubled.

read more