It is the confrontation between Excel and ideology, between those who display data and calculations and those who prioritize expanding coverage, two sides that exchange reproaches. It is not the war, but the tension, one more, between two economic vice presidents of the Government, the first and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, and the second and of Labor, Yolanda Díaz.
This time, the conflict has broken out as a result of the unemployment benefit reform, an issue on which both ministries have been working for more than a year, with a project that was to be discussed last spring, but that the call for early elections was carried out. in front. Now, what is surprising is the virulence of the dialectical confrontation, also fueled by the rush to close the reform before the end of the year, to qualify for a new payment of recovery funds.
In Economy, true to their style, they use Excel and data, with a model of unemployment benefit reform that, they claim, in two years can create 340,000 new jobs, 194,000 of which come from unemployment and 144,000 from inactive. A reform that is based on three pillars: the increase in incentives, which would mean 216,000 new jobs; the reinforcement of the Activity Agreement, with 92,000 additional jobs; and the simplification of subsidies, which would provide the remaining 30,000 jobs.
The bulk of this creation of new jobs would be through the first pillar, the increase in incentives for the unemployed to actively search for and find an occupation, which could provide the aforementioned 216,000 new jobs, just over half coming from unemployment and unemployment. rest inactive. The formula would be put in place allowing the subsidy and salary to be made compatible over a long period, a year or more. A clearly decreasing subsidy, which could start at 600 euros and end at 300, as a basis to stimulate reintegration into the labor market; and that it would be compatible with a job and therefore, with the receipt of a salary equivalent to or slightly higher than the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), currently 1,080 euros.
For the Ministry of Economy, this is the key element, making the subsidy and salary compatible and stimulating the active search for a job. As the approach is to add a supplement to support employment, it could initially triple income, they say in Economía.
They also contemplate the reinforcement of the Activity Agreement, the verification and control mechanisms, which would allow the addition of 92,000 new employees; 54% from unemployment and 46% from inactivity. Spain has harsh penalties for failing to comply with the conditions to receive the subsidy, but also weak verification, which devalues ??the effectiveness of the system.
The third leg of the Economy reform is the simplification of the current subsidy system, with the transfer of a part of them to the minimum vital income. In this way, they calculate the creation of 30,000 new jobs.
This reform would also mean savings for the public coffers, because, if expectations are met, by significantly increasing the number of people working, contributions will also increase, which would achieve around 2.2 billion additional income in the two years in which that the calculation has been performed.
“The variation in income is what is important as an incentive,” they point out in Economía. If at the lowest salary level there is no room for savings, consumption must be adjusted with each decrease in income, and in this way the search for work is encouraged.
The approach of this reform is also based on the comparison with the experience of other countries, where the introduction of the compatibility of the benefit and the subsidy has led to a substantial improvement in the coverage rate, which indicates the proportion of unemployed who are beneficiaries. of a benefit. In Germany, Italy and France, it is confirmed that introducing compatibility elements increases the coverage rate and, at the same time, reduces structural unemployment.
