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, without opportunities for social mobility.Job insecurity is the new normal "For a segment of society," according to Cáritas, which, in a report on exclusion and social development prepared with the FOESSA Foundation, concludes that the overall improvement in all macroeconomic indicators is not reflected in the daily lives of many families. There is even poverty in families when one of their members is employed in social services that don't even manage to contribute to the community.

In this dramatic equation of an active labor market and greater social vulnerability, it must be taken into account that salary increases do not compensate for rising prices (the CPI), the precariousness of jobs, forced reductions in working hours, and the impediment of factors such as exorbitant housing prices, which force many families to live in squalor. sublet rooms or to allocate more than half of their income goes to paying rent or mortgages to avoid becoming homeless.

The study, presented this Thursday in Barcelona, ​​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 protectionAccording to the report, 8.5% of workers are at risk of social exclusion, a figure that challenges the notion that employment is a sufficient shield against poverty and makes it clear that the era in which work could reverse 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% in six years; employment without contracts or social security contributions has also increased by a similar percentage, reaching 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 forced to work outside the home overnight. Women, young people, and immigrants are particularly affected by this situation, and they are left out of the improvements incorporated in the latest labor market 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, and a specific law addressing it is currently stalled in Parliament. However, the face of exclusion also includes families with children with disabilities, single mothers, the elderly, the sick, those with disabilities, and those living in substandard housing. This is what the diocesan organization calls "the process of social fragmentation." It also points out the need to break the stigma of "freeloaders" that the most vulnerable have historically carried, and instead recognize that, rather than failing individuals, "it is the system" that is failing.

At this point, Cáritas states that in Spain, three out of four families experiencing severe exclusion do everything they can to escape it: they work (in whatever jobs and however they can), study, or follow inclusion programs. Between 2021 and 2024, this percentage of active families rose from 68% to 77%, but ultimately they "run into structural barriers," not only because social assistance is scarce but also because there is a lack of a system to guide these people in the a maelstrom of bureaucracy surrounding the more than one hundred social benefits

This photograph also confirms that poverty is inherited, meaning that a child born into a family with serious social problems will likely become an adult with the same problems. But the report also warns that vulnerable adults raised in families with better economic conditions are beginning to be identified. For Cáritas, this situation demonstrates a dynamic of fewer life opportunities due to the likelihood of dropping out of school in the early stages, having low-skilled and poorly paid jobs, and living in rented accommodation.