More Than 100,000 Canarians Will Not Receive Aid Despite Being Unemployed

Canary Islands

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Around 100,000 canaries who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus cannot benefit from the extraordinary aid that the central and autonomous governments have put into practice. They are those who work in the black, a problem that in the Archipelago is especially worrying due to the extraordinary weight that the underground economy has in the region.

And, in addition, with the aggravating circumstance that these are people who, for the most part, combine various occupations to be able to gather a minimum income with which to spend in the month. Among them are domestic servants, many of whom will not be able to collect the subsidy that the central Executive has just recognized for not having a contract. In the case of the Islands, about one in two are left without help.

The high volume of underground economy passes tens of thousands of Canary workers at the worst of times. The most accurate way to calculate the number of people who work illegally is to compare the number of employed people in the Labour Force Survey with the official statistics of Social Security affiliates. The latest data shows that there are 113,000 more employees than affiliates, although the average difference is around 100,000. A considerable number despite the efforts that have been made in recent years by the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate to reduce the black employment scourge. However, the Canaries in this situation are just over 100,000 people.

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The economist José Miguel González, who held the position of Director General of Labour in the previous autonomous legislature, explained yesterday that the weight of the shadow economy in the Archipelago currently ranges between 15 and 23% of employment and the Internal Product Gross (GDP).

In short, those more than 100,000 (or people who work in the Canary Islands, since a high percentage of illegal jobs are occupied by immigrants who have to perform as best they can until they get a work permit, now have no income. Neither aid, subsidies, debt deferrals, nor temporary employment regulation files (ERTE), nor any other measure reaches those who work without contributions. Thus, the situation can be dramatic for many of these people and their families, which is why several autonomous communities are willing to ignore this group's historical debt to Social Security and include it in public aid. In fact, the Balearic Government has announced that it will pay basic social income (the twin of the Canary Insertion Benefit, PCI, in the other archipelago of the country) also to the employees of the underground economy. Housewives, caregivers of dependent people without contracts, multiple employees in multiple tasks to complete a living wage and even prostitutes are covered.

A unique case is that of domestic workers (more than 90% of those who work in other people's houses are women). This group has its own contribution system, but only for the purposes of the future pension, that is, these people do not have the right to collect unemployment if they lose their jobs. The collapse of the economy by Covid-19 has forced the central government to rectify itself, so that the domestic cleaners will receive extraordinary help in case of being unemployed. However, of the more than 19,000 Canaries who work as domestic servants, only 9,983 can receive the subsidy. Why? Because they are the ones that are affiliated with Social Security. The other 50%, as occurs in the country as a whole, work in the black, among other things due to the disincentive effect produced by a regime that does not give the right to unemployment.

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