Nine out of ten immigrants who have left guardianship are studying or working.

BarcelonaIn a few days, Thierno Kalidou Diallo will move from the apartment provided by a social organization to one shared with several friends, which he will have to pay for out of his own pocket. At 18, he works in a clothing store in Reus and is studying for a degree in social and healthcare, although his future plans include taking the university entrance exams to graduate in social education and obtaining a driver's license. Diallo says he has "worked hard" to get where he is now and feels "satisfied" to have managed to fully emancipate himself and direct his life in the direction he wanted when, at the age of sixteen, he decided on October 18, 2023, to emigrate. At the time, he was studying high school, far from his parents and two siblings, and found the money to pay for "the trip." After three months of traveling by bus, walking, and, finally, in one canoe, arrived in the Canary Islands. "I asked a friend of my parents for the money and said, 'If I don't die at sea, I'll pay you back,'" he says.

In the Canary Islands, he denied being a minor because he feared he'd be stuck there with the thousands of minors struggling in overcrowded centers. It wasn't until he was transferred to the mainland and they paid for his bus ticket to Barcelona that he admitted his age. Before coming under the guardianship of the General Directorate for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), he passed the age tests ordered by the Public Prosecutor's Office to verify, indeed, that he was under eighteen. "I wanted to come to Barcelona because I wanted to learn Catalan, and I'm learning it. Little by little," he laughs.

Like Diallo, most unaccompanied foreign minors have taken advantage of their time under the guardianship of the DGAIA to study, either to continue the education they began in their country of origin or to begin a new one. This was confirmed by FEPA (Network of Entities for Youth Emancipation), the leading federation in Spain in supporting the emancipation of persons who have left guardianship, based on a survey of 2,261 minors in Catalonia. 16 and 25 years old (20,000 have been placed under guardianship since 2006).

According to these results, 40% of these young people study, 23% work, and 24% combine both tasks, a situation experienced by only 15% of Spanish youth of the same age. They are the so-called generation yes yes, as opposed to the nini, which represent 12% of these children, three percentage points below the youth population. The reason for this behavior is largely attributed to the fact that since 2021, when the modify the regulations of the immigration law, work permits are automated, and young people don't have to wait for a contract to apply for one. Diallo is one of the beneficiaries and, therefore, has been spared a lot of "anxiety," in the words of Jordi Sàlvia, director of FEPA.

Yassin el Baied, a Moroccan from the town of Kasr al-Kabir, near Tangier, speaks of anguish and fear. The boy arrived on a small boat, also wanting to contribute to his family and not be a burden, and he turned seventeen at the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office so he could take the age tests. "My mother paid for my trip with a broken heart, because she was afraid I'd drown, but she was also afraid that if I stayed I'd end up in a bad life," he recalls. Aware of the family's efforts and the risks involved, he says he has always chosen "the right path," heeding everything the social workers at the centers and apartments told him, who, in the absence of parents, have guided him and lent him a hand when it came to obtaining permits.

Shortly after leaving the DGAIA protection system, the pandemic arrived, which made it difficult for him to get a employment contract essential at that time to obtain the work permitWith only the basic education from his country, he took a course to become a first-class butcher, so far from being discouraged, he sent out resumes until a butcher in Santa Coloma de Gramanet took his chance and signed him a contract. This way, he ensured the renewal of his residency. "If they give you an opportunity, you should take it," he says. He now works at a meat company in the Zona Franca (Free Trade Zone) and lives in a room in the Pubilla Casas neighborhood of Hospitalet. He says his idea would be to continue his training to advance professionally, but, for now, he can't afford it. "I have to work, I can't do anything else," he explains, and he denies those who link the group to crime or to living without work: "Let's not lump us all together," he demands.

The survey results "debunk the myths and stereotypes" surrounding foreign minors, Salvia argues, demonstrating that with "good support," these children quickly end up "working and paying taxes." The lack of family and the need to strike out on their own means this group (like former national foster children) are leaving home before the average age of their generation, now in their thirties. It also shows that children with secondary and higher education continue to study in Catalonia, and more of them even go to university than native foster children (0.42% versus 0.30%).

Regarding their main source of income, a third of foreign children now live entirely off their work, 31% thanks to the support of leading organizations, and 27% thanks to the former foster child benefit received by all children who spend at least one year in the DGAIA (National Directorate of Education). In contrast, 18% have no income or benefits, and only 0.09% receive the Minimum Living Income (IMV).