In Catalonia there are 1.4 million working poor

BarcelonaCatalonia has recovered some of its labor market momentum after the pandemic, but there is a worrying group of 1.4 million workers for whom employment does not free them from living trapped in poverty and without opportunities for social mobility.Job insecurity is the new normal "For a segment of society," according to Cáritas, in a report on exclusion and social development prepared with the FOESSA Foundation based on interviews with 140,000 households across the country and across all socioeconomic backgrounds. The study concludes that the overall improvement in macroeconomic indicators is not reflected in daily life. Many family members are employed, and even those fortunate enough to access social benefits struggle to make ends meet. In this dramatic equation of an active labor market and increased social vulnerability, it is important to consider that salary increases do not offset rising prices (the CPI). The difficulties faced by undocumented immigrants in finding work also contribute to this. Furthermore, exorbitant housing prices force families into precarious living conditions. sublet rooms or to allocate more than half of the income to pay rent or mortgages to avoid becoming homeless.

The study, presented this Thursday, indicates that Catalonia has one of the highest rates of inequality in Europe, which reinforces the main channels of vulnerability: housing, employment, health and social mediaIn fact, 8.5% of workers are in a situation of social exclusion, a concept that goes beyond material scarcity and a statistic that challenges the idea that employment is a sufficient shield against poverty and demonstrates that the era in which work reversed inequalities is over.

Labor market without laws

Families at risk of exclusion are the ones whose situation has worsened the most compared to 2018 for several reasons: those employed in precarious or marginal jobs have more than doubled, rising from 3.1% to 7.9%; employment without contracts or social security contributions has also increased by a similar percentage (9.6%). It is a labor market without regulations, where workers have no rights or stability whatsoever in case of an accident or if they are hired outside the home from one day to the next. It affects women, young people, and immigrants the most, who are left out of the improvements incorporated in the latest labor reform.

The photograph of exclusion taken by Cáritas breaks the stereotype of the face of poverty as a lone man surviving on the streets. Homelessness is a major problem.It has a specific law blocked in Parliament—However, there are also two million people experiencing housing exclusion, affecting families with children with disabilities, single mothers, the elderly, the sick, the dependent, or those living in substandard housing. "Housing has ceased to be a protective factor," stated Salvador Busquets, director of Cáritas Catalunya, who called for a redistributive tax policy and a national housing pact.

Based on the citizen survey and the testimonies of the people Cáritas supports, the study's lead researcher, Raúl Flores, asserted that the label of freeloaders living off the handout that the most vulnerable have historically endured, leading to the confirmation that what is failing "is the system." At this point, three out of four families in severe exclusion do everything they can to get out of poverty and work (in whatever and however they can), study, or follow inclusion programs. Between 2021 and 2024, this percentage rose from 68% to 77%, but ultimately "they run into structural barriers," Flores explained, not only because aid is scarce but also because there is no system to guide them in the a maelstrom of bureaucracy surrounding the more than one hundred social benefitsThe report also confirms that poverty is inherited: a child born into a family with serious social problems will likely grow up to face the same challenges. However, it also warns that vulnerable adults raised in families with better economic circumstances are beginning to emerge. For Caritas, this demonstrates a trend of fewer life opportunities due to the likelihood of dropping out of school in early childhood, having low-skilled and poorly paid jobs, and living in rented accommodation.