Spain’s youth: Precarious employment and unaffordable housing
Fecha: marzo 2024
Marina Asensio and Javier Serrano
Youth employment
SEFO, Spanish and International Economic & Financial Outlook, V. 13 N.º 2 (March 2024)
In just over 15 years, Spanish youths have suffered the fallout from two economic crises that have hurt their current wellbeing as well as their expectations for the future. The fragility of the Spanish job market, characterised by a high incidence of temporary contracts and high structural unemployment, has taken a particularly heavy toll on the country’s young people for whom job quality and employment rates have been significantly lower. This has led to an increased concentration of young people in major urban areas, migrating in search of work opportunities. However, in those cities young people are facing more expensive housing, undermining their savings and making it hard to buy a home, ultimately reducing their wealth. This problem has important repercussions for society as a whole related to increased pressure on the social security system due to lower birth rates, in addition to increases in income inequality and decreased aggregate demand with knock-on effects on the real economy. To revert this situation, it is vital to pursue evidence-based public policies that foster the creation of quality work, job stability and housing affordability, especially in the large cities where demand for housing for young people is concentrated. Such policies will be crucial to ensure Spain’s youth can fully realise their full potential and contribute to the country’s economic growth and collective wellbeing.