The blog of the Observatory

Marlier, E., “The future of social protection and of the welfare state in the EU.” Brussels, European Commission, 2023

The European Commission report analyses the trends related to social protection and the welfare state in the countries of the European Union. In addition to longer-term trends, the report reflects on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as the growing challenge of energy poverty. The document also analyses the impact of global trends on the welfare state of the countries of the Union.

“Gender Equality and Work-Life Balance Policies during and after the COVID-19 crisis.” 2023

Kowalewska, H., “Gendered employment patterns: Women’s labour market outcomes across 24 countries.” Journal of European Social Policy, online first, January 2023, p. 1-18.

Maria Karamessini. “From Work-life Balance Policy to the European Care Strategy: Mainstreaming.” 2023

Kowalewska, H., et al., “Gender, work and family policy.” Journal of European Social Policy , vol. 31, n. 2, 2021, p. 125-191.

European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Davaki, K., Demography and family policies from a gender perspective, European Parliament, 2016

“Global Report on Cocaine 2023. Local dynamics, global challenges.” Viena, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2023, 184 p.

Ramirez de Arellano, A., “Gramática de la prevención de adicciones [Grammar of Prevention].” Sevilla, Consejería de Salud y Consumo, Junta de Andalucía, 2022

For many years, research societies and international organisations engaged in prevention have given attention almost exclusively to national policy makers or specialists in this field. In many European countries the most important decisions on prevention are made at the local level; municipalities make the decisions on what financial and personal resources are allocated to which priorities, on alliances (or at least cooperation) in favour or against information campaigns with the entertainment or alcohol industries, and on the kinds of interventions aimed at schools, families or vulnerable young people.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, “Women and drugs: health and social responses.” Lisboa, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2023, online

This mini-guide is part of the “Health and Social Responses to Drug Problems: A European Guide. The guide provides an overview of the most important aspects to consider when planning or providing health and social responses for women who use drugs and reviews the availability and effectiveness of these responses. It also considers the implications for policy and practice.

Curull, M., et al., “Opportunity bias in Spain: empirical evidence, drivers and trends.” Bilbao, Fundación Iseak, 2023

The objective of this study is to measure opportunity bias in Spain. This objective requires analysing current results based on opportunities, and how the latter affect the former. Opportunities are defined in terms of those circumstances of the individual that are beyond their control. It is crucial that these characteristics are exogenous, which we ensure using information from the individual and their household when they were around age 14. The variation in educational opportunities determined by circumstances is 80% and is mainly due to family origin. The proportion is between 30-45% for employment status and hourly wage. Labour market differences are determined in part by family origin, but regional differences have the most impact. In 2019, more than half of income inequality was generated by inequality of opportunity, a percentage that has steadily increased since 2004.

“La gestión de la intimidad en la sociedad digital. Parejas y rupturas en la España actual [Couples and Breakups in Today’s Spain]. Félix Requena Santos, Luis Ayuso Sanchez (Ed). Fundación BBVA, 2022

This monograph analyses the way Spanish couples manage their processes of finding a partner, their dynamics of life as a couple, as well as breakups and their consequences. Methodological triangulation (quantitative, qualitative and network) was used in data collection. The Fertility Survey (INE, 2018) and the third wave of the Spanish General Social Survey (CIS, 2018) were used. An unpublished qualitative project was conducted with 9 discussion groups and 27 couple interviews (81 in total). This data collection was completed with the analysis of the social network of the 104 research participants. The results obtained indicate the important transformations that are taking place in the private sphere in our country. Partner-finding processes are becoming longer and longer throughout the life cycle, with greater acceptance of plurality. New technologies contribute to expanding the match-making markets, and the new values to accentuate this trend, giving rise to a wide diversity of sexual affective relationships that impact stable partner relationships. There are important differences by age after age 65. Internally, despite the negative perception of the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT), communication in the family is increasingly intense, and aspects such as reconciliation, care management, money or sexuality are more explicitly part of managing privacy, with a tendency toward greater gender equality. Breakups occur more in all generations, living this experience with greater normality than in the past. Breakup factors are mainly emotional and indicate that more work must be done in managing emotions at all ages. Social network analysis revealed the specific nuclearisation process in partner relationships in Spain, with fewer children and a greater weight of digital networks and friends, however structural links are not lost.

“¿Qué nos dicen los nuevos datos sobre el abandono escolar prematuro en Cataluña [What do the new data tell us about early school leaving in Catalonia]?” (2022)

The Encuesta de Población Activa [Active Population Survey], published at the end of January 2022, showed early school leaving in Catalonia fell 2.5 points in one year and is at 14.8%. Although this is a structural decline in the early school leaving rate, the result of policies aimed specifically at this objective, we must celebrate the improvement of the data and promote efficient measures to prevent early school leaving among the most vulnerable students. The number of early school leaving (abandono escolar prematuro, AEP), which were available at the time in Catalonia (according to 2020 data), indicated that 17.4% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 did not have any qualifications beyond ESO and stated that they were not studying. Spain, with an average of 16%, was in the shameful first position in Europe. While Catalonia was above the Spanish average and well ahead of other autonomous communities with indicators of standard of living similar to our own. The publication of new data shows a very significant drop indicating Catalonia has an AEP of 14.8% and the whole of Spain, 13.3%.

García García, Ainoa. “La protección del menor en el derecho europeo y español: el sharenting y su problemática [Protection of Minors in European and Spanish Law: Sharerenting and its Problems]. Editorial Universitat Politèctnica de València. 2021

Today, social networks play a fundamental role in our daily lives and especially in the lives of most children. In fact, Internet access occurs at an increasingly earlier age. This situation, added to the phenomenon of minor age influencers, that is, those minors who are recognised for uploading content to digital platforms, have caused a significant increase in the risks to which children are exposed on the web. Likewise, we are facing the rise of a particular scenario: sharenting, the families that overexpose their sons and daughters on social networks. In this way, this monograph aims to examine the protection of the right to honour, personal and family privacy and the image of minor children in this international digital context due to its very nature and the reach of social networks. Specifically, this research will show the risks are exposed to from a gender perspective and will analyse the US, European and Spanish regulations on the matter, to study the current regulation on the phenomenon and draft a critical examination of it to defend the interest of such a vulnerable sector of the population.

CIS publishes survey on sexual violence against women (February 2023)

Around 3.5 million adult women, 21.7%, in Spain admit to having suffered sexual assault during their live, according to data from the "Current issues survey: sexual violence against women" published Wednesday, 8 February, by the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS). The study also reveals that almost 80% of Spaniards know a woman who has been sexually assaulted: 35.1% of Spaniards in their circle of family or friends; 27.2% in the area where they live, in their neighbourhood; and 17.5% in their place of work or study. In any case, 65.8% of Spaniards believe that because there is more news about sexual assaults, more cases go public. The survey does not include questions about the Law on Sexual Freedom or the Law 'Only yes is yes' on the relevance of consent, the reductions in sentences it has caused, or about the need or not to reform it. The fieldwork, more than 2,500 telephone interviews, was carried out between 20 and 25 January, three months after the law promoted by the Ministry of Equality came into force. Regarding the reason why some men attack women, 12.2% believe that the main cause is that they have mental issues, while 10.6% blame it on lack of education and absence of motives and values; 8.3% to low education level; 8.3% to feelings of power, superiority and rights; 7.2% find no reason; and 5.8% to machismo, misogyny and rejection of gender equality. This is one of the periodic monographic surveys carried out by the CIS on current issues, in this case sexual violence against women. In 2019 and 2014, the CIS conducted two Macro surveys on Violence Against Women, in which sexual violence was also addressed. Likewise, in 2017 it published a survey on "Social Perception of Sexual Violence."

Àrea d’Igualtat i Sostenibilitat Social, Model de municipi cuidador [Area of Equality and Social Sustainability, Caring municipality model]. Series: Projectes transformadors n. 19 [Transformative Projects no. 19], Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona, 2023, 116 p.

The objective of this document is to generate a proposal for a caring municipality model in Barcelona. A caring municipality that understood an integrative and cross-disciplinary strategy to reorganize care in a feminist, community-oriented way, with the will to put people in the heart of socio-economic policies and involve all citizens and other social actors in guaranteeing well-being.

Costa-Font, J., Raut, N., “Global report on long-term care financing.” Ginebra, World Health Organization, 2022, 89 p.

This report by the World Health Organization examines the financing of long-term care globally and describes the challenges of long-term care funding in high-, low- and middle-income countries. In addition, the main determinants that favour the demand for long-term care services are described.

“Carga mental y emocional de los cuidados: ¿la última frontera? Resumen ejecutivo [Mental and emotional burden of care: the last frontier? Executive summary]. Murcia, Fundación Cepaim, 2021, 52 p.

This research revolves around caring, its distribution and consequences, the burdens that come with the responsibility of taking charge of sustaining life, one's own and that of others. Considering the pandemic that we are experiencing, the objectives reasoned in 2019 are still valid, but they must be contextualised in the current situation given the notorious impact on gender relations, in the distribution of the care burden within families, as well as the burden of existing public resources to “reconcile” the private and professional sphere.

Fresno, J. M., et al., “Análisis sobre la situación de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad e identificación de retos de futuro [Analysis on the status on the rights of persons with disabilities and identification of future challenges].” Madrid, Real Patronato sobre Discapacidad, 2022

The objective of the study is to learn the impact of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the lives of persons with disabilities and their families in Spain, through a diagnosis of the status of the rights of persons with disabilities and identifying future challenges. To this end, legislation and documentation from prestigious institutions was reviewed and analysed, as well as official statistical sources among which the Disability, Personal Autonomy and Dependency Situations Survey (EDAD-2020) and the State Database of Persons with Disabilities of the Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Sociales [Institute for Senior Citizens and Social Services] (IMSERSO) 2020. Likewise, a population consultation was conducted through a structured and pre-coded questionnaire disseminated through the communication channels and social networks of the Royal Patronage. Thirteen discussion groups were organised: one of a general nature and 12 topic-specific groups, with more than 190 people participating, 60 of whom were persons with disabilities.

Fundación Cermi Mujeres [Cermi Women Foundation], “Derechos humanos de la mujeres y niñas con discapacidad [Human Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities].” Spain report 2021. “Serie: Generosidad, Género y Discapacidad [Series: Generosity, Gender and Disability]” n. 18, Madrid, Fundación Cermi Mujeres, 2022,144 p.

This report, the fifth in the historical series prepared so far by the Cermi Fundación Mujeres, records and documents with a critical eye the major failures, fractures and threats to the human rights of women and girls with disabilities in Spain, and to propose ways of action, whether legislative, public policy or civic strategies, that restore full enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms to this sector of the population. Special attention was given to three research areas: violence against women and girls with disabilities, sexual and reproductive rights and access to justice and procedural adjustments. The report highlights the social, legal and political situation, contrasts it with the international and national mandates on human rights required in Spain, to determine its degree of compliance, and propose decisions and actions to establish a legal framework with full guarantees.

Terol, M., et al., “Documento de salud infantil [Child Health Document]” (ed. act. enero 2023). Madrid, Ministerio de Salud, Comunidad de Madrid, 2023

Technical publication that serves as a guide and record of health follow-up in the newborn, childhood and adolescence population. It is a useful tool for children, parents and health professionals. It includes the calendar of child development edited by the Royal Patronage on Disability.

Fisher, E., et al., “Childhood obesity: is where you live important?”. London, Nuffield Trust, 2022

Despite numerous initiatives, there has been no improvement in childhood overweight and obesity levels in England in recent years. Much of the research used to inform childhood obesity policy has been based on ways to change people’s behaviour, rather than shaping external influences that are beyond a person’s control, including local environmental characteristics. Understanding these external influences is especially important for children, who cannot choose the environment they will grow up in.

Mental Health Report in Spain (March 2023)

Three out of ten young people between the ages of 18 and 34 in the State have had suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide. This is clear from the study “La situación de la salud mental en España [The situation of mental health in Spain],” prepared by the Mental Health Confederation in Spain and the Mutua Madrid Foundation.

Alario, R., “Asistencia personal: un recurso clave para la inclusión social de la personas con problemas de salud mental [Personal care: a key resource for social inclusion of people with mental health problems]”. Revista Espanola de Discapacidad , vol. 10, n. 2, 2022, p. 135-153.

Personal assistance is a professionalised support service for people to encourage their personal autonomy, achieve independent living and active participation in the community. This paper analyses the impact of personal assistance on social inclusion of people with mental health issues. For the analysis, qualitative methodology was used through bibliographic survey, individual interviews and discussion groups. The research reveals the inclusive effects that personal assistance has for the collective group, both in work and social dimension: it is a source of employment, creates new networks and promotes participation in their environment.

Saiz, M. (coord.), et al., “Apps sin violencia. Investigación sobre las violencias sexuales que las mujeres sufren en aplicaciones de citas [Apps without violence. Research on sexual violence that women suffer in dating applications]”. Madrid, Federación Mujeres Jóvenes, 2022

The authors of this research have analysed the continuum of sexual violence that is exercised on virtual dating sites, from the most explicit and hostile to the different unrecognizable and normalized symbolic violence, and which are supporters of the most extreme sexual violence. Thus, this study represents an approach to this serious social problem and denunounces it, revealing its different dimensions.

Volunteer Observatory, “La acción voluntaria 2017-2012 [Voluntary Action 2017-2021].” Madrid, Spain Volunteer Platform, 2023

This report presents a joint analysis of the data from surveys that the Spanish Volunteer Platform has been conducting since 2017, specifically in 2017-2021. This joint analysis offers a more accurate picture of the profile of people who cooperate with social entities and, above all, those who volunteer.

The Revista Española de Discapacidad (REDIS)is an electronic scientific journal for publishing research or academic articles, scientific and professional reflection on the area of disability from a multidisciplinary perspective. It is an open access peer-reviewed journal and directed to all people and entities working and researching in disability.

Confederación Salud Mental [Mental Health Confederation] Spain is a non-profit and social interest entity that began in 1983. Currently, we are comprised of 18 regional federations and single-province associations, which bring together more than 340 associations and add up to more than 60,000 members throughout the Spanish territory. Since June 2015, the Federation of Associations of Relatives and Persons with Mental Illness (FEAFES) is called the SPANISH MENTAL HEALTH Confederation, offering society a positive view, moving closer to the concept of “mental health” and away from “mental illness.” In this way, all society is encouraged to feel directly challenged by the message of the Confederation, since the new name dilutes the differentiation between healthy people and people with illness, as we must all take care of our mental health.

CECID (Centre Espanyol de Documentació i Recerca sobre Discapacitat) és un centre assessor del Reial Patronat sobre Discapacitat del Ministeri de Drets Socials i Agenda 2030 dedicat a promoure i difondre el coneixement científic sobre discapacitat.