The Federation of Child and Adolescent Care Entities (Fedaia) is calling for a protocol with a child-centered perspective when children are involved in "critical" situations such as evictions. This was the proposal made by UAB social and cultural anthropologist Miryam Navarro during the presentation of the report on supporting children and adolescents at risk of residential exclusion and homelessness. Navarro emphasized that residential exclusion and homelessness have a serious impact on the mental and physical health of children and adolescents. Among other things, they have detected insomnia, eating disorders, anxiety, and social isolation in these children and adolescents and warn that these situations cause "scarring."
Immigration
Migrants spend twice as much as natives on housing in Barcelona.
Foreign-born people make up 30% of wage earners and have lower salaries.
30/09/2025
2 min
BarcelonaWork and, above all, housing are the two major factors that mark social inequalityThis is also the case for the migrant population in Barcelona, who suffer greater residential exclusion than those born in the State. First, because the majority must live in rented accommodation, at the mercy of sharp increases in market prices, and second, because they hold the lowest-paid jobs, according to the conclusions of the first report of the Observatory of Migration and Refuge of the Metropolis Institute, with data from 2022 and 2023. ~BK_S00 a rental contract, compared to 20% of native-born residents. This difference makes them more vulnerable to residential pressure, since the average rental expense is €1,000 per month, double that of homeowners. Furthermore, since migrants earn an average of €9,000 less per year, they must make a greater effort to meet expenses. In fact, they allocate 41.6% of their earnings to housing, more than double that of those born in the State (18.5%). By tenure, the report reveals that, apart from the 70% who rent, 11% of foreigners own their own home, fully paid for, compared to 57% of natives. The rest are left to cope with mortgage bills.
The social inequality between those born in the state and those who arrived from outside is also explained by employment. The former occupy the highest-skilled and best-paid jobs, although foreigners have better professional resumes. Migrants represent 31% of the population (including naturalized citizens) and 30% of the city's wage earners.
All in all, four out of ten residents in the Catalan capital with low salaries are foreign-born, working mainly in sectors such as hospitality or personal care because the natives don't want to be there and because the impossibility of equating educational qualifications from their countries of origin leaves them no choice. According to the report, the low pay is compounded by the fact that they work part-time and have temporary contracts.
School segregation
This behavior is justified by the fact that the social protection system is designed with measures that reward professional careers: only if one has paid contributions can one collect unemployment benefits, retirement pensions, or the minimum living income (IMV). Therefore, the foreign population is more frequent in social services, since they are not eligible for other benefits, although it has been found that they are less good resources to reverse poverty and exclusion. In the case of children, the report finds that foreign students suffer from segregation and have a lower presence in prestigious post-compulsory education.
In statements to the press, Raquel Gil, Deputy for Social Rights at Barcelona City Council, pointed out that all of this data is a responsibility of the administrations, in order to improve the social integration of newcomers and prevent certain sectors from using immigration as a "weapon."
The impact of evictions on children
