Over thirty-four percent of Spain's unemployed workers received zero government benefits in 2012 after the state ran out of funding for this type of aid. For the most part, the workers have been out of a job for a long time. And getting back into the workplace is complicated for them, because few opportunities exist.
The data tells the story of a struggling portion of Spanish society, but zero earning power from these jobless workers means that personal consumption is falling, too. In Q4 2012, consumer spending fell 6.5% in Spain as it increased by about that much in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The second negative effect of the problem hurts the national Social Security system, which is shrinking rapidly from a lack of contributions from active workers.
