5 million people, 50% youth, UNEMPLOYED

Work not only provides financial security and the opportunity to plan ahead, it also ensures inclusion and builds identity. What do you think these figures mean for the future of society? For your future?

Today it was announced that there were 4.978.300 unemployed in Spain in September. This amounts to 21,5% of the population and is the highest unemployment has been since 1996.

As young people, you may be particularly interested to know that the percentage of Spanish youth unemployed, after rising above 40%, is now approaching 50%, and that RTVE reports that almost 20% of university graduates between 25 and 29 years old are unable to find work.

You may also be interested to know the differences between the sexes: while 146,800 jobs were lost in the last three months, 114,000 of these individuals were women and 32,800 were men.

Equally worrying is the fact that:

• the number of households in which all working-age adults are unemployed has risen to 1,425,200. 
• of the 4,978,300 unemployed, 2,117,300 are long-term unemployed (1+ years).

BUT before you panic, bear in mind that there are 9,058,300 households in which all working-age adults have a job and also that there are 23,134,600 people of working age in Spain.