Madrid The unemployment benefit will not be cut. This is the main message that the Ministry of Labor wants to send in the face of the differences on the reform of this benefit with the Ministry of Economy. Sources from the portfolio headed by Yolanda Díaz (Sumar) assume that they maintain positions different from those of the department of Nadia Calviño (PSOE), and accuse this ministry of opening the door to a reduction of this subsidy.
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Let’s go to Pams. First of all, the unemployment allowance should not be confused with the contributory unemployment benefit. The first is collected by around 800,000 people throughout the State, who have exhausted their unemployment or have not contributed enough to collect it. To access it, however, you must meet a series of criteria, starting with age and income. In addition, they are people who are registered as unemployed, who are looking for work and cannot find it. Currently, it is a subsidy of around 480 euros gross per month (80% of the IPREM) which can be collected for a maximum of 30 months.
In general terms, the intention of the Ministry of Labor is to simplify the procedure and to include groups that are now excluded from this aid, in addition to improving its coverage. These are committed issues and already heavily negotiated with Brussels within the framework of component 30 of the Recovery and Transformation Plan linked to European funds.
Thus, for example, Treball proposes to eliminate the 30 days that currently have to pass to be able to access the subsidy after running out of unemployment. It also wants to include temporary agricultural workers, as well as those under 45 without family burdens, which would increase the number of people who can potentially collect it by around 400,000. It also proposes changes regarding the amount. If now 80% of the current year’s IPREM is collected each month of subsidy, the Ministry of Labor proposes that the benefit grow to 110% of the IPREM during the first six months; 90% in the following six months; and the rest of the time, up to 30 months, 80%. With the IPREM of this 2023 (it remains to be seen if it rises in the face of 2024), the amounts of the subsidy are as follows: 660 euros per month during the first six months; 540 euros the following six months and, finally, the current 480 euros. All of this will mean an increase in spending, sources from the Ministry of Labor assume.
At the same time, we want to make compatible the option of receiving 100% of the subsidy during the first 45 days of having found a job and, above all, we want to strengthen the support that employment services must provide, either with more advice or opening the door to the training of the person who is unemployed.
Discrepancies with Economy
Far from what Labor proposes, the Ministry of the Economy starts from the idea that the reform of this type of subsidies must move towards formulas that encourage a quick return to the labor market through a reduction in aid . Initially, Calviño’s department would propose that the subsidy could be collected only for 12 months, and not 30 months as until now, according to sources from the Ministry of Labor. In addition, the amount would also be decreasing: for three months 100% of the IPREM would be collected; the following three months would go to 80%; the next three, at 65%; and the last three, at 50%. Taking into account the current IPREM, this would mean leaving the benefit around 442 euros per month, that is to say, below the current 480.
From the Ministry of Labor it is pointed out that social benefits are not elements to threaten workers and they believe that a reduction in the benefit only puts more pressure on the unemployed. The approaches also differ because the Department of Economy defends that if no job can be found during this time, the person must make the jump to benefits such as the minimum vital income, while the Ministry of Labor does not share the immediate traffic
Meeting with social agents
Sources from the Ministry of Labor maintain that the document in which all this is collected is practically closed and they trust that it will not register any changes once it is explained and discussed with social agents, the majority unions and employers. The intention, in fact, is to approve the reform in the Council of Ministers before the end of the year and then transfer it to the Congress of Deputies. In fact, the same sources anticipate that they will “soon” convene a social dialogue table, although they do not specify when. This is a demand from social agents, who, for now, do not know the fine print of the reform.
2023-11-30 14:27:56
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