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Nabarralde | Nabarra Papers
Spain's
unemployment reform to have
adverse effects on women
Beñat Isturitz. Navarre, July 24, 2002
Spain's
Royal Decree that reforms unemployment benefit takes its inspiration
from the objectives of the European Union employment strategy, especially
the guidelines associated with 'employability' and the principle of
'no social rights without social responsibility', as put forward by
Anthony Giddens a theoretician of the celebrated 'Third Way'--so fervently
championed by Tony Blair (a born-again Thatcherite) and which is nothing
more than the decanting of the old wine of market principles into attractive
new bottles, with the added ingredients of moral uplift and big smiles.
Statistical evidence suggests that some elements of the Spanish unemployment
reform may have adverse effects on the position of unemployed women.
The
decree involves an erosion of the right to unemployment benefit acquired
by workers through their contributions and turns it into a mere instrument
of active employment policy. The aim of mobilising the workforce so
that it does not fall into the "limbo" of receiving social
benefits removes a right acquired by years of work. It even removes
'interim wages' which are equivalent to three or four months' wages
for dismissed workers while they await the judgement of the courts,
even if the dismissal is finally considered to be unjustified. This
measure benefits exclusively the employers and reduces the cost of dismissal.
The
measures contained in the Royal Decree on 'fixed-discontinuous' contracts
also means that employees with seasonal contracts in sectors such as
tourism, hotels and catering and education will be considered as part-time
workers and will therefore not receive unemployment benefit in the periods
of inactivity of such sectors. This measure will force the employees
to save during the months of activity in order to support themselves
and their families during the periods of inactivity which range from
six to eight months. Moreover, some of these activities are in low-paid
sectors, so the situation may be dramatic.
The
question of forcing unemployed people to sign a 'written commitment'
with the employment office (under the principle of 'no rights without
responsibility') could be ineffectual due to the incapacity of the employment
offices in many geographical areas and sectors (due to lack of resources,
information, staff etc) to bring together labor market supply and demand.
Finally,
the Royal Decree's measures may force women ‹ and particularly those
with family responsibilities ‹ `voluntarily´ to leave the labour market
and join the `inactive´ population or go into `underground´ employment.
The Spanish state
has the highest rate of unemployment in the European Union - 14.1% compared
with an average of 8.9% in the 11 countries of the `euro-zone´ and 8.2%
in all 15 Member States. Unemployment in the Spanish state (including
its Basque territories) affects particularly women - with a rate of
20.6% compared with 10.9% in the euro-zone and 9.7% in the whole EU
- and people of both sexes under the age of 25 - a rate of 26.2% compared
with 17.1% in the euro-zone and 16.2% in the whole EU (all these figures
refer to 2000 and are taken from the chapter Les hommes et les femmes
en Europe in the 2002 Eurostatyearbook). There is also a very high rate
of temporary employment in the Spanish labor market.
An
initial analysis (2000 Survey of the Active Population) suggests that
the government's reforms may have a particular impact on unemployed
women, notably in terms of the new provisions on unemployment benefit
and the requirements to accept employment offered. According to data
from the 2000 Survey of the Active Population, women represent 58.4%
of unemployment in the Spanish state. However, they only represent 47.7%
of all persons who receive some type of unemployment benefit. Non-contributory
benefits form a large part of the unemployment benefits received by
women, applying to 59.5% of all women receiving some type of benefit.
The reform could thus place this group of unemployed women in a situation
of greater vulnerability than at present.
With
regard to the new requirements on unemployed people to accept 'suitable
jobs' offered, the SAP figures indicate that both sexes have a high
degree of willingness to accept any job. Most men and women surveyed
state that they would accept a job even if it meant: changing occupation
(72.1%); having an income lower than is appropriate to their qualifications
(53.9%); or taking a job at a lower category than expected (60.1%).
The government feels that there is a pool of jobs that are not being
filled due to the resistance of workers to give up unemployment benefit
by taking a job that does not meet all their expectations, and the Royal
Decree thus targets reluctance for the three reasons cited, in order
to favour `employability´ . The figures suggest that this resistance
does not seem to exist, if one also takes into account the fact that
not all unemployed people receive unemployment benefit--the gross rate
of coverage of unemployment benefit among the unemployed is 55.5% and
the net rate 67.5%, according to the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry's
figures for April 2002.
There
is one point on which workers show great opposition: geographical mobility.
According to SAP figures, a change of residence in order to find a job
is accepted by only 23.8% of the unemployed population, and only 18.4%
of unemployed women. The level of acceptance is even lower for older
workers. In fact, only among people under the age of 25 is there a certain
acceptance of this possibility. Persons over 25, especially married
women, are the most reluctant to change their place of residence, or
to deal with the additional burden of a long journey to work. The responsibility
of housework that falls almost exclusively on women, the lack of public
support for this work and the need for the support of the family in
order to carry it out, do not improve willingness to accept geographic
mobility, even if it does not necessarily involve a change of residence.
The Royal Decree imposed a radius of 30 kilometres and a journey of
two hours.
Furthermore,
it should not be forgotten that the Spanish state (including its Basque
territories) is the EU country with the lowest percentage of homes in
which both partners work (according to figures issued by Eurostat in
May 2002) and with the lowest fertility rate. The reform will not help
to remedy this situation.
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