22.3 million workers: record employment in Spain or a mirage?
Spain added 232,000 Social Security contributors in May, hitting a record 22.3 million. Skeptics point to seasonality, precarious jobs and statistical window dressing.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
22.3 million contributors: a record that hides precarious jobs and window dressing
Spain has reached a new all-time high of 22.3 million workers registered with Social Security in May, after adding nearly 232,000 contributors. The figure, released by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, invites official triumphalism. But a closer look at the data and at the make-up of that employment suggests the story deserves several quotation marks.
The seasonal factor and job quality
The arrival of the summer season explains much of the surge. Contracts in hospitality and tourism — many of them temporary, part-time and paying subsistence wages — structurally inflate registration figures every spring. Behind the record are thousands of 'beach-bar rowers' working 14 hours in precarious conditions, as skeptics point out. Job quality remains the Achilles' heel: a high percentage of new contributors do not earn a wage that covers the cost of housing.
Massaging the figures: SEPE and regularization
Skepticism grows when examining who counts as a contributor. Mandatory internships from SEPE (Spanish Public Employment Service) courses count as contributors, as do public employment schemes and immigrant regularization programs. Critics of the official methodology estimate that these items alone may have added hundreds of thousands of people to the labor force artificially, without reflecting genuine, stable employment. In other words: half a million people are added in the blink of an eye.
Add to this that half of all workers are poor, according to recurring estimates, and that the other half will be even poorer due to price inflation — especially in housing — and the record registration looks more like an exercise in creative accounting than a real improvement in the labor market.
Time will tell whether the figure withstands scrutiny or deflates once the summer season ends.
Related debates in the forum
Spain has reached a new all-time high of 22.3 million workers registered with Social Security in May, after adding nearly 232,000 contributors. The figure, released by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, invites official triumphalism. But a closer look at the data and at the make-up of that employment suggests the story deserves several quotation marks.
The seasonal factor and job quality
The arrival of the summer season explains much of the surge. Contracts in hospitality and tourism — many of them temporary, part-time and paying subsistence wages — structurally inflate registration figures every spring. Behind the record are thousands of 'beach-bar rowers' working 14 hours in precarious conditions, as skeptics point out. Job quality remains the Achilles' heel: a high percentage of new contributors do not earn a wage that covers the cost of housing.
Massaging the figures: SEPE and regularization
Skepticism grows when examining who counts as a contributor. Mandatory internships from SEPE (Spanish Public Employment Service) courses count as contributors, as do public employment schemes and immigrant regularization programs. Critics of the official methodology estimate that these items alone may have added hundreds of thousands of people to the labor force artificially, without reflecting genuine, stable employment. In other words: half a million people are added in the blink of an eye.
Add to this that half of all workers are poor, according to recurring estimates, and that the other half will be even poorer due to price inflation — especially in housing — and the record registration looks more like an exercise in creative accounting than a real improvement in the labor market.
Time will tell whether the figure withstands scrutiny or deflates once the summer season ends.
Related debates in the forum
- OFFICIAL THREAD TO INSULT @CALOPEZ · 19 replies
- Classical music thread, authors and composers. In response to Oxford's guasonic snub of white culture. · 6300 replies
- 46-year-old single man from Galicia moves in his partner's entire family · 49 replies
- Quick, easy, cheap improvised recipes with little preparation · 12 replies
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (22 replies).
More summaries
-
Spain tops EU unemployment as 41% of registered jobseekers go uncounted
41% of people registered at Spanish employment offices do not count in the official unemployment figures. Spain leads the EU in real unemployment despite the statistical makeover.
-
Villena Treasure heist: 4 minutes, €1.7m and a museum with no security
The Villena Treasure, valued at €1.7 million, was stolen in 4 minutes. A museum without security and a precedent at the Louvre. Who is responsible?
-
Spain's Social Security goes paperless: online notifications only
Spain's Social Security will stop sending paper notifications. Everything will be electronic, with only a few narrow exceptions. The digital divide and the irony of electoral propaganda…
-
The PISA Mirage: Why Regional IQ Maps Mislead
A viral map of regional IQ is debunked: data is from re-scaled PISA 2015 results, lacking psychometric validity.
-
Toronto shuts down comments on its 30 km/h tweet
Toronto disabled comments on its tweet about 30 km/h zones, citing terms of use violations after the conversation turned into personal attacks.
-
Feijóo reopens abortion debate in Spain and his party fears the cost
Alberto Núñez Feijóo has reopened the abortion and euthanasia debate in the middle of Spain's election campaign, while his own voters warn of the political cost of relitigating settled issues.