The 9th FOESSA Report, presented this Wednesday by Cáritas Española (Spanish Caritas), has warned of an “unprecedented process of social fragmentation” in Spain, where an “apparent economic boom” coexists with “one of the highest inequality rates in Europe,” leading to “a society of unease” in which 4.3 million people live in a situation of severe exclusion, one-third of whom are minors—that is, 1.4 million children.
“Spain is going through an unprecedented process of social fragmentation. The middle class is eroding, pushing many families toward lower strata. After two decades of chained crises, the recovery phases have not closed the gap. Social integration has been reduced and the most severe exclusion in 2024 is 52% higher than in 2007. We are talking about 4.3 million people living in severe social exclusion,” warned the technical secretary of the FOESSA Foundation and coordinator of the report, Raúl Flores, at a press conference in Madrid.
According to the study by a team of 140 researchers (from 51 universities, research centers, foundations, and Third Sector entities, and based on interviews with 31,015 people), social integration “is eroding” and severe exclusion remains “much higher than 2007 levels.” Thus, in Spain, “an apparent economic boom coexists with deep structural ailments: blocked lives, loneliness, ecological anxiety, and hopelessness.”
Regarding the main causes of social exclusion, the study points to housing and employment. Concerning housing, it explains that 45% of the population living in rental housing is at risk of poverty and social exclusion, the highest figure in the EU. “Housing is pushing one out of every four households out of a dignified life and crushing the delicate balance of the middle classes,” stressed Flores.
In addition, the report indicates that “employment has lost much of its protective and integrating capacity,” with job insecurity affecting almost half (47.5%) of the active population. According to the report, this amounts to “11.5 million people trapped in various forms of job insecurity.” Other multiplying factors of exclusion are, according to FOESSA, education, family background, health, and social relationships.
The document emphasizes that “one third of all severe exclusion” in Spain corresponds to minors, whose poverty rate stands at 29%, the highest of all age groups and the highest in Europe. To these must be added, according to the report’s authors, the 2.5 million young people “trapped” in structural precariousness.
