The weakening of the middle class threatens the viability of public services

The middle class has been the maintenance of the Welfare State in European societies. The singularity that defined the Old Continent with respect to other regions of the world, such as the United States, was a group of workers with an average income, not too low to pay taxes, or too high not to be in the temptation to come. to pay them and pay on their own for their own private services. Of the great recession that edge of average-income workers has weakened in Spain.

“Everyone must understand that the welfare state must be paid,” the inclusion minister recalled. José Luis Escriva, after increasing social security contributions in the last phase of the pension reform. The administration’s funding capacity was also put to the test during this pandemic, when to pay for leave, assistance to self-employed workers or sick leave due to covid, the state spent 39.050 million euros during the two years of the pandemic. Without that figure, the transfers activated from autonomy take into account.

Health: More than a decade of losses

Spanish health has deteriorated since 2010. It was not strengthened when the country in theory overcame the economic crisis. Spain invested less in it and lost health workers. “Since 2010, the system has been poorly put together and the pandemic has already unraveled everything,” he says. Gabriel of the Well, Secretary General of the State Confederation of Medical Unions (CESM).

Del Pozo points to the “terrible overload & rdquor; in primary care, which eventually affects hospital emergencies and later hospitals. And it is suffered by the citizen, who does not always receive adequate service.” , lost power and capacity. “Many toilets went to other countries in search of better economic conditions, as they are among the lowest paid in Europe.” There were no planning ni investment. We dedicate between 5% and 7% of the START less than the surrounding countries & rdquor ;, shows del Pozo.

The Secretary-General of Physicians of Catalonia (MC), Xavier Lleonart, condemns that the system, with the cuts, “accessibility & rdquor ;. “Years ago you asked for a visit to your doctor and they gave it to you after 48 hours, now it takes two weeks. At present, there is not a single CAP that does not have structural shortages of professionals & rdquor ;, he appreciates. This happens because many have retired and “there was no budget to replace them.” This implies that the ratio of patients per physician increases. “And that means a deterioration in the quality of care & rdquor ;.

Lleonart condemns that the Catalan health system has lost about 10,000 million from 2010 to now. The per capita expenditure of the Ministry of Health was 1 297 euros in 2010. In 2020, from 1 293 euros. “We are at the levels of toe & rdquor ;.

Education: Still far from Paris goals

The member states of the Unesco signed the Paris Declaration last November committing to grant education between 4% and 6% of GDP and / or at least between 15% and 20% of total public expenditure. In Catalonia, public education expenditure represents 3.6% of GDP, below Spain (4.03%) and far from the EU average (4.6% of GDP). Of CCOO denies that although the education budget has improved for this 2022 (6.681 million euros, 17.5% of the total of the Catalan accounts), the investment is still far from the figures before the cuts taking into account inflation since 2010. That year the budget was 5,539 million, 19.24% of the budgets of the General. CCOO claims to be recovering the 9,500 million that it estimates have been left in education over the past decade to invest in education. In this decade, the ratios of students per class have not improved, early childhood education is still not 100% free and the school, among other things, is still not 100% inclusive.

Teachers are a key figure in the education system. “Teachers have seen their salaries and working conditions cut. They were increased by 2% in 2022 when inflation is 6.7%,” he condemns Jesus Martin of UGT. And he relates this fact to the lack of specialist teachers: “Do you think graduates or engineers with current working conditions would want to go and work at the Department of Education?”

Pensions: A reform that strives for equity

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Last year, the coalition government made one of the links in its reform of the pensions, with which he hopes to strengthen the future viability of the public benefit system. The so-called ‘intergenerational equality mechanism‘ended with a temporary increase in social security contributions paid by companies, and to a lesser extent workers, as early as this 2022. This measure has the sustainability factor determined by the PP and that it intends to reduce the total amount of pension to be received on the basis of the increase in the average life expectancy of retirees.

The Government reform aims to feed a pension piggy bank to pay for part of the increase in spending plan as soon as they begin to withdraw en masse the ‘baby boomers‘of the labor market. A measure that, coupled with the discouragement of early retirement, is aimed at curbing spending to avoid future cuts in pensions or larger increases in tax burden that future generations of workers will have to accept. Critics of the reform argue that the measures promoted by Minister José Luís Escrivá are not enough to curb this foreseeable increase in spending. It is not a complete reform and there are elements, such as the increase in the period of years that have been contributed to calculate the final amount of the pension, that have yet to be negotiated.