Hardly any permanent jobs in Spain: “garbage contracts” and no chance of having a family

First financial crisis, then pandemic: “Generation C” – the C stands for Corona – is considered a lost generation in Spain. Well educated, but only limited-term contracts – many future plans fall by the wayside.

If Fabio Ramos wants to see his fiancée, he has to go to Ana María’s parents’ house. He usually rings downstairs, then she comes down and they go out together. Scenes like teenagers in love. Both Ana María and Fabio are almost thirty years old and graduated academics.

But both live with their parents. They would love to move in together, but that is impossible without a job and income. “I love my parents very much,” says Ana María, “but now I want to be independent, live with Fabio and get on. That’s the law of life.”

The two biologists belong to a well-educated generation of academics who still have no work. During the financial crisis, the research area in Spain was drastically reduced, then came the corona pandemic. Virtually no vacancies are currently being filled.

Fabio earns a little money with tutoring lessons that he gives online students. More is not possible in the Spanish labor market.

In all honesty, I find it quite frustrating. You study for four years, have a master’s degree – and then what? I don’t think we’re using all of the potential we have at all. ”

High unemployment rates

There are striking names for such fates in Spain. A “lost generation” is growing up, or there is a “generation C”, C for Corona. One thing is clear: Ana María and Fabio belong to the generation of a double crisis: first the financial crisis, then the pandemic.

The Mediterranean country has long been groaning under staggering unemployment figures. When Brussels imposed a rigid austerity policy on Madrid ten years ago, youth unemployment soared to more than 50 percent. And when the economy had just recovered, the coronavirus struck.

At the beginning of the pandemic, 53 percent of Spaniards under 35 were made redundant. Even now, youth unemployment is still over 30 percent.

Birth rate fell sharply

This generation of young people never really had a chance in Spain. At times of the economic crisis, the social legislation was relaxed, fixed-term employment contracts with miserable pay became the rule. And that has worsened again with Corona.

No wonder that young Spaniards hardly think about making plans for the future or starting a family. The Spaniard Ariane Aumaitre studied the behavior of young people in Europe at the European University of Florence. In the south of the continent in particular, people would become less and less independent.

These are all people who have less income and fewer opportunities to start a life project. You can develop less. They live with their parents for much longer, the birth rate has fallen sharply, and the chances of having their own home have also fallen.

So it is hardly surprising that the country, along with Japan, has the lowest birth rate in the world. Young Spaniards see no future for themselves. “It would be nice if I could have children as a young woman,” says Ana María. “But for that you also need economic stability in your life. My mother was 27 when I was born. Now I’m 29 years old and I don’t dream of having a child.”

Better educated, worse paid

People like Ana María feel like they are in a dead end. They are better educated than their parents’ generation, but will earn less. You have to accept precarious working conditions and “garbage contracts” as a temporary waiter or taxi driver. In Spain, the term “mileuristas” has been around for a long time, ie those who earn just a thousand euros a month. Too little to live on and pay rent.

Advisory service at the University of Madrid

Of course, these gloomy perspectives have consequences, especially psychological ones. That is why the University of Madrid has been offering a counseling service for those seeking help for a number of years. In times of the pandemic, this often takes place via video conference or by telephone.

Christina Laroy initiated this service at the Madrid University Hospital. She says:

“The illnesses have increased, not only in number but also in severity. We see mood swings, emotional disturbances, uncertainty, fear of the future.

No, the prospects for Spain’s young people are not good. Perhaps the almost 70 billion euros that the EU will pay out to Spain as massive corona aid can make a difference. Ana María and Fabio are rather skeptical. “I don’t see any prospects,” says the biologist. “In my profession there are few offers and a lot of demand. There are very many who are looking for a job. It will be very difficult for both of us.”

And then the two of them pay for their coffee, hug each other and go home, each for himself. To her parents.