Summary
1. La dimensión social importa: avances en la convergencia en la UE
To foster greater social and economic justice has been one of the priorities of the spanish presidency of the council of the european Union over the past six months, which has resulted in marked progress and the signing of the european pact on asylum or the union; the promotion of equal pay; progress in upholding the right to care or the eu's accession to the convention in istanbul, on preventing and combating Violence against women and domestic violence. Our country, contributes to deepen in one of the primeval objectives of the european integration process embodied in the founding treaties; the improvement of living and their convergence between member states, after almost four decades of belonging to what is today the European union. Throughout this period, spain has gone through a process of political modernization, economic and social council of unparalleled intensity in its history, which has been transferred to the standards of living of the population, much closer to the european average than they were in the mid-1980s.
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In a context of major geopolitical uncertainties and growing decline in confidence in institutions 2 , 2022 the eu was raised again “ to strengthen his soul ” 3 by demonstrating to citizenship the positive impact of eu membership, which requires the monitor not only the usual indicators of economic performance and employment but all facets of well-being from a multidimensional perspective. As the creation of the European pillar of social rights 2017 in the Social summit in Gothenburg was crucial to advance the social dimension of the eu project, although its effective implementation is subject to the policies undertaken by member states 4 . Around the Plan of action for the European Pillar of social rights and its new three objectives adopted in the Social summit in Oporto 2021 5 they inspected the social indicators for monitoring the follow-up to the implementation of the Plan, allowing a viewing of the progress and weaknesses in the process of convergence in the european union in terms of the 20 principles and social rights recognized in the Pillar.
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Note: we have marked green indicators where Spain is situated in a better position than the european average; in orange those values and sheds worst without color where average. Selection of indicators contained in the Plan of action for the Social Pillar linked to social convergence. The data of the risk of poverty and material deprivation of Spain have been updated with the Standards of living survey 2023 published in february 2024 . Fuente: Elaboración propia a partir de Eurostat, European Pillar o Social Rights, Scoreboard (extracción a 01 . 03 . 2024 ).
Despite the improvement in recent years, is a long way to achieving convergence of Spain with the eu average, as shown in table 1 in variables such as the employment rate, the rate of long-term unemployment and youth unemployment rates which condition and interact with other welfare variables such as income or access to housing. At the same time, the growth of gross income available of households per capita remains “ critical ” and is still below the baseline 2008 . Spain faces challenges in relation to early school leaving and training, although relatively good results in digital skills. The main challenges of Spain are located in the field of equal opportunities and social inclusion, as both the overall risk of poverty or social exclusion as the proportion of income quintile are points “ weak but are improving ”, although the levels remain relatively high, especially in the case of the high proportion of boys and girls at risk of poverty or social exclusion and the relatively low impact of social transfers in poverty reduction.
On the positive side, the gender gap in employment is “ on average ” and the gap in employment on disabilities puts Spain between “ better ”. Spain continues to achieve results "better than the average" in health-care needs unmet, as it sheds some indicators are positive, healthy life expectancy to 65 years. The proportion of children under three years of age attending formal childcare is good, although it has declined significantly over the past year pointing to current problems of accessibility. Therefore, the European commission says in his report that spain faces potential risks to the upward social convergence that need to be analysed in depth in a second phase.
1 This article is based on an updated extract of this appendix. www.ces.es.
2 Fifth round of the Living, working and COVID- 19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty.
3 State of the Union 2021 European commission. 2021 . https :// ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/soteu _ 2021 _ achievements _ and _ timeline _ en.pdf
4 CES report 02 / 2018 on the economic governance of the European union.
5 By 2030 at least 78 per cent of the population between 20 and 64 years must have employment; at least 60 per cent of adults should participate in training activities every year and; the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion should be reduced by at least 15 million for 2030 .
6 CES report 02 / 2023 on the governance of the eu spanish presidency. 2023 .
7 Views of the committee on employment and Social protection committee on
social investment, 27 and 28 november 2023 SOC. 769 LSM 552 ECOFIN 1179
8 Social Protection Committee, Summary of the main activities and accomplishments of the Social Protection Committee Indicators Sub-Group in 2023 .
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2 . Convergence and gaps in key aspects of well-being
Tasa AROPE: At Risk of Poverty and/or Exclusión. Fuente: Eurostat, Income and living conditions survey e INE, Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida (ECV) 2023.
Despite the significant amount of exceptional measures and urgent action procedure adopted in recent years to the maintenance of incomes of households in a context of the high cost of living 11 together with other structural in nature, such as the establishment of the IMV, it is particularly concerned about the status of the child population. 2022 our country leaving the second worst figure of the eu, with a 33 , 4 per cent of minors at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion (AROPE rate). The more recent data from the Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida point to a further aggravate the problem, which hits 2023 to 34 , 3 % of the population 16 years.
Note: In addition to the values of Spain and the eu; the figure shows the value of the two countries with better and worse result in the past year. Source: Eurostat.
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Nota: Además de los valores de España y la UE; el gráfico muestra los valores de los dos países con mejor y peor resultado en el último año de referencia. Fuente: Eurostat.
AET: Personas de 18 a 24 años que no había completado la segunda etapa de Educación Secundaria (FP de Grado Medio, Básica o Bachillerato) y no seguía ningún tipo de formación. Nota: Además de los valores de España y la UE; los dos países con mejor y peor resultado en el último año de referencia. Fuente: Eurostat.
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Note: In addition to the values of Spain and the eu; they are the two countries with better and worse result in the past year. Source: Eurostat.
Spain has also positively converged on the increase in digital skills of its population: 64 , 2 per cent of adults in spain has basic digital skills 16 values, well above the european average ( 54 %) remain, in addition, minor differences between men and women ( 55 , 6 and 52 , 3 % respectively). The digital divide by age remains visible and while the 84 , 8 % 16 to 24 years such skills, is reduced to 26 , 8 % 65 to 74 years.
Note: In addition to the values of Spain and the eu; the two countries with better and worse result in the past year. Source: Eurostat.
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16 Indicator of Digital Skills 2 . 0 (DSI) is a composite indicator which is based on selected activities related to The Internet or the use of software that persons 16 to 74 years held five specific areas (literacy data and information, communication and collaboration, creation of digital content, security and resolution of problems). It is based on the survey of the eu on the use of ict by households and individuals.
3 . Light and shadow in gender equality
Kingdom of the foregoing, the progress in equality from a gender perspective in europe in recent decades are undeniable although insufficient to address structural inequalities between men and women. The data provided by the European institute for gender equality show considerable progress in the past 10 years 17
Source: European institute for gender equality Gender Equality Index 2022 .
Source: calculations based on the european institute for gender equality, Gender Equality Index (IQ), 2023
Economic and social prosperity of the eu, and Spain in particular, depends in large part on the continuation of the progress in gender equality, given the slow and insufficient progress in the last decade, and the fragility of the same, as was made clear by the pandemic.
17 The IGG what makes the european institute for gender equality from a decade ago, both in the eu as a whole and each of its member states. the index uses a scale of 1 to 100 where 1 inequality and represents total 100 full equality. The scores are based on differences between women and men and the levels of achievement in six main areas (consisting of 31 indicators): work, monetary situation, knowledge, allocation of time, power and health.
4. Conclusión
Finally, during the spanish presidency of the council has highlighted how the heterogeneity and diversity of situations prevailing in the eu countries requires new instruments to hear and make progress towards social convergence, having driven progress towards a framework of Social convergence, leading the way the field of performance monitoring of social policies to a more multidimensional conception of the well-being beyond the usual economic indicators and employment.
18 European commission, annual strategy of Sustainable Growth 2020 , COM ( 2019 ) 650 the end.
References and sources used
Economic and Social council of Spain (CES), report on the socio-economic and employment. Spain 2022 , p. 475 - 506 Available atwww.ces.es.
The Economic and Social council, Report CES 03 / 2021 on the economic governance of the European union. The impact of the pandemic
The Economic and Social council, Report CES 02 / 2023 on the governance of the eu.
Eurofound ( 2022 ), Fifth round of the Living, working and COVID- 19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty.
European commission, annual strategy of Sustainable Growth 2020 , COM ( 2019 ) 650 end
European commission Proposal for a Joint Employment Report 2024 , 21 November 2023 .
Views of the committee on employment and Social protection committee on social investment, 27 and 28 november 2023 SOC. 769 LSM 552 ECOFIN 1179
Eurostat. Early leavers from education and training by sex and labour status.
Eurostat. Statistics Explained. Age of young people leaving their parental household. Agosto 2022 .
Eurostat. Housing in europe: the interactive edition 2022 .
Eurostat. Active population survey of the eu (EU-LFS).
the work has been consolidated platforms in europe as a relatively small but significant
European institute for gender equality, Gender Equality Index 2022 .
Social Protection Committee, Summary of the main activities and accomplishments of the Social Protection Committee Indicators Sub-Group in 2023 .
Von der Leyen, U., State of the Union 2021 European commission. 2021 .