Op-ed: Worrisome Social Security contribution data

Social Security contribution data from January shows that the economic crisis and unemployment have worsened to the point that the total number of contributors is now below 17 million, taking Spain back to levels not seen since eight years ago. The drop in contributions is affecting Social Welfare Regulations (Régimen General in Spanish), the pillar of Spain's Social Security system. 283,684 contributors were lost in January, and 85% of them worked under cuenta ajena permits.

The services sector suffered the most in January. Widespread sales did not encourage consumption and, therefore, businesses cut nearly 50,000 employees. The flood of unemployment has hit many employers: hotels, public companies and administrative businesses.

Even the ETT has laid off employees, mostly due to massive layoffs from service companies, which are demanding less of this contract type. The construction industry is still in free fall and adding to Social Security's lack of contributions. There are many similarities to what happened to the Social Security system at the beginning of 2009, which until now was considered the worst year of the crisis.

To prevent rampant unemployment from dampening the Social Security system further, we need deep reforms that eliminate barriers that block efficiency in the labor markets and competition among firms. Hopefully, the labor reforms that the government will approve within the week will answer current expectations and not waste another opportunity to respond to a situation that has disappointed continually.