Pilar Sorribas Navarro and Claudia Serra Sala, UB IEB;
Project selected in the Call to support research projects on social inequality (LL2020_5)
Spain stands out in Europe for the high degree of duality in its labour market. Two groups of workers subject to different levels of protection were created after deregulating the use of temporary contracts in 1984: permanent contract workers and temporary workers. This duality may lead to differences in job and income insecurity and therefore preferences for income redistribution. Workers with temporary contracts demand more income redistribution, and this demand is more pronounced among workers aged 30 and over and those with lower levels of education.
Key points
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1Spain stands out for its high use of temporary contracts, with an average of 27% of workers having temporary contracts during the period 2005-2019.
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2The use of temporary contracts is particularly high among young people, with an average of 65.4% of employees under 25 years of age on temporary contracts between 2006 and 2019.
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3Spain is a country with a strong preference for redistribution, and people on temporary contracts support this even more.
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4People with temporary contracts have a greater preference for redistribution, regardless of gender, age or education, although the increase is more pronounced among those aged 30 and over and those with lower education levels.
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5The preference for redistribution in times of crisis increases for all workers, although this increase is even higher when it comes to workers with permanent contracts.
The macroeconomic situation has a stronger effect on the preference for redistribution of people with permanent contracts
Difference in percentage points of the probability of stating a specific reply to the statement “the government should take measures to reduce differences in income levels” by type of contract and macroeconomic situation, 2002-2019.
