Youth Unemployment and Job Insecurity in Spain: Problems and Policy Options

Abstract

Youth unemployment rates in Spain are considerably higher than the European average. Moreover, those young people who do have jobs generally work under extremely unstable conditions on temporary contracts. Most of these temporary contracts are "involuntary" - workers would prefer to find permanent jobs but are unable to do so. The consequences of this job insecurity in Spain are dramatic. Across the educational spectrum, young workers are at greater risk of remaining unemployed, getting stuck in temporary contracts for long periods of time, experiencing wage penalties, or being over-qualified for their jobs. The crisis has increased the overall risk of long-term poverty and social exclusion, particularly for youth with migrant backgrounds and those who are not in education, employment, or training. The paper concludes by outlining the three most urgent objectives for the Spanish labor market today: bridging the gap between education and work; developing active labor market policies; and reducing labor market segmentation between workers with temporary and permanent contracts and between "insiders" and "outsiders".