Empirical analysis of the risk of social exclusion of long-term unemployed young people in Spain

Abstract

Since Spain joined the European Union, the industrial sector has undergone serious restructuring which has reduced it considerably. The agricultural sector has been affected by the application of technology and the globalisation of commercial relations, which has drastically reduced the number of people employed in this sector. The restructuring of the production system which has taken place in Spain over the past two decades has meant that the service sector is the predominant sector of economic activities, with many more people employed in it than in the secondary and primary sectors. The service sector in Spain is characterised, in general, by poor, temporary-seasonal employees formed by groups who are discriminated against in terms of salary (women, young people, etc.). This means that there is a growing number of young people who perform labour activities for short, rotational periods between situations of unemployment, without managing to escape from this vicious circle due to their poor qualifications despite their work experience.