young people have embraced “B salaries”

Although the Spanish economy seems to growthe economic situation for many workers It’s not so positive. This precariousness is causing almost half of young people to accept a “B salary.” That is, with money undeclared.

According to a report recent InfoJobs report, one in four Spaniards would be willing to receive part or all of their salary in black if that serves to increase their monthly income.

Submerged precariousness. What is more ethical not making ends meet or arrive breaking the law? According to the report ‘Moonlighting and Salaries in B‘ prepared by InfoJobs, 26% of Spaniards are clear about their answer and prefer to collect part or all of their salary in B, and one in 10 acknowledges having done so in the last two years.

This figure represents an increase compared to the same 2020 study, in which the number of workers willing to collect part or all of their salary in black represented 23%, but a decrease compared to the 2023 data, which places that percentage at 28%. The data, significant in itself, becomes more worrying when broken down by age: among young people between 18 and 24 years old, the proportion that would accept receiving their salary in black is close to half (48%).

Salaries that do not arrive. This data reflects the real need to increase income in the face of wage stagnation and the increase of the cost of livingespecially in those who earn less than 1,000 euros per month. In that salary range, payment acceptance in B reaches 38%, regardless of age. Mónica Pérez, director of Communication and Studies at InfoJobs, points out that “the loss of purchasing power and the difficulty in accessing quality jobs are pushing many workers to look for alternatives to maintain their standard of living.”

This is not a marginal practice, but an increasingly common reality for those who, as the data demonstrate, they have low salaries and unstable contracts. Among the people who declare having received part of their salary in B in the last three years, 69% claim to have received up to 20% of their salary, and 22% indicate having received between 21% and 60% of their monthly income with undeclared money.

Job insecurity. According to the report, there is a close relationship between the payment of black money and job insecurity. 30.3% of employees who claim to have received payments in B as part of their salary had non-regulated training. At the opposite extreme, only 13.2% of employees with higher education or 14.1% with medium training cycles received this type of payments.

Among the reasons why employees have accepted this type of remuneration, it stands out that 50.3% claim that it was the only option offered by their company, followed by 29.4% of employees who stated that this remuneration was actually a remaining part of a salary that they needed to complete.

Bad salary, bad retirement. Although for many employees being paid at B is more a matter of survival than an economic plan, accepting salary payment at B implies partially giving up social rights that are governed by labor contributions.

That is, if part of the salary is collected in black, the contribution base is lower, so the sickness benefit, unemployment benefit or retirement pension are calculated on a lower base and the amount is lower.

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Image | Image | Unsplash (Shoeib Abolhassani, Ru Dur)