A modern society with strong contradictions

Social indicators in fields such as training, job market or social protection from the Basque Country present reasonably high standards. However, although the data from our economy regarding competitiveness, productivity, GDP, etc. puts us in the context of the most economically developed countries, social indicators do not necessarily match up. *(Note)

Society and its working conditions give us quite a clear idea of how the population lives, their cohesion level, and their availability to meet social and economic challenges. We might say that Basque Country society follows a western pattern (high level of technology, training and active population, availability of social protection resources, etc.). However, these characteristics have to match up with the context of benchmark societies and also internally in terms of territory.

The employment rate (60.4%) is lower than the European average (64.2%, EU-27), close to the figure for Spain (57.7%), Malta (57.6%) and Italy (56.9%) and a long way off countries such as Switzerland (79.3%), Norway (75.3%) or the Netherlands (74.9%). Regarding the employment rate for women (57.5%) and people over 55 years old (45,1%), the ratios and our position in the ranking show a similar position and therefore we are far from the benchmark countries in this area.

Regarding the high level of unemployment, the situation is very different because an unemployment rate of 14.8% puts us among countries with the highest unemployment level alongside Ireland (14.8%), Portugal (15.7%) and Croatia (15.8%) although still far from Greece (24.3%) and Spain (25.0%). Our female unemployment (15.0%) holds a similar position in the ranking and long term unemployment demonstrates a relatively less outstanding rate (4.8%) whilst remaining one of the highest.

The poverty risk has been increasing over the last few years as difficulties to find work increased and social provisions dropped off. Although far from the most hard-hit countries (Bulgaria 22.3; Rumania 22.2; Spain 21.8; or Greece 21.4), the Basque Country stands 18th out of 35 European countries with a rate of 15.2, along with Switzerland (15) and Denmark (13), but far from the Netherlands (11) or Norway (10.6). As an example, the Basque Country stands 22nd in social spending, far from France (33.8), Denmark (33.3), the Netherlands (32.1) or Germany (30.7).

This is all going on in a society that can boast a high level of training. We are 2nd in Europe in terms of the number of science and technology graduates (22.4) along with Ireland (22.5), Finland (21.2) and France (20.4).

However, we fall back down to 18th in terms of homes connected to the Internet (68.8), with a similar rate to countries that have recently joined the EU or in the south of the EU.

The activity rate is quite similar throughout the territory and is particularly high in rural districts with similar rates to benchmarks in Europe (County of Trebiñu 83.74; Agoitzaldea 76.66; Arabako ibarrak 76.47; Arbela 76.41…). The most outstanding difference comes precisely in gender differences as although the North Basque Country districts demonstrate balanced figures for each gender's activity rate (Arbaila 1.91; Arbela 2.73; Pettarra 3.26…), others, especially inland, show a male-dominated situation (Bidasoa Garaia 36.56; Errioxa Arabarra 35.39; Estellerriko Mendebaldea 31.30…).

This contrast crops up again when looking at unemployment rates. Rural districts register low unemployment rates over the potentially active population compared to urban areas. Among other elements, we should highlight low unemployment inland in the North Basque Country (Baigorri 4.31, Garazi 3.95, Pettarra 3.79) compared to other more industrial areas (Tuteraldea 15.69; Sakana 13.88; Enkartazioak 13.83; Bilbo Handia 13.09…). In the same way, some towns in the Ribera area have similar rates to the rest of Spain (Zuñiga 30.26; Petilla 29.41; Mirafuentes 21.43…).

When talking about living conditions, we cannot ignore the problem of dependency, especially among old people. The dependency rate for old people varies according to municipality and district. However, the situation in municipalities furthest from main town centres is critical with increasingly aging population requiring care. Once again, inland districts suffer most (Erronkari-Zaraitzu 53.40; Basabürüa 46.21; Pettarra 43.57…), in addition to the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz conurbation (38.79) or Lapurdi Garaia (39.62).

*Note: This text aims to provide information and make it easier to read the data being presented. The text has been written by the Gaindegia technical team. It does not aim to reflect Udalbiltza's opinion.