Labor wants to expand the coverage of the subsidy to those over 45 years of age without charges and for its collection to be immediate

It will be possible to combine it with a job during the first month

MADRID, 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy prepared a draft on the unemployment benefit reform in which it proposes eliminating the so-called waiting month and expanding coverage to the unemployed over 45 years of age without family responsibilities, who currently lack protection, according to They informed Europa Press from sources in the Department headed by Yolanda Díaz.

Currently, the collection of the unemployment benefit, which amounts to 480 euros per month, is not immediate, since beneficiaries must allow 30 days to pass after exhausting the previous benefit or subsidy before requesting it. Labor wants to end that month of waiting so that the unemployed can have immediate access to the subsidy.

The reform of the level of unemployment protection assistance is a commitment included in Component 23 of the Recovery Plan committed to Brussels that did not materialize due to the advance of the general elections.

Labor's intention with this reform, which it will try to bring to the Council of Ministers "as soon as possible", is to simplify access to subsidies, making this aid compatible with joining work during the first month.

He also wants to expand coverage to groups such as 45-year-olds without family responsibilities, who until now lacked protection, and for subsidy reviews to become quarterly.

From Work, they remember that these subsidies are the last resort of many workers when they do not have access to contributory benefits and that, therefore, "they are experiencing an extremely delicate work moment." Around 80% of recipients do not exhaust the subsidy.

The same sources have indicated that, with the unemployment assistance reform, recipients will have the right to a portfolio of services and will agree with the employment offices on their orientation and on training and work itineraries appropriate to their profile and personal situation.

The second vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, made clear this Wednesday her discomfort with the Ministry of Economy led by Nadia Calviño following statements by the Secretary of State for the Economy, Gonzalo García Andrés, regarding the objectives of the unemployment benefit reform.

Minister Díaz, in statements to the press in Congress, has defended that the unemployment benefit reform is "a responsibility of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy" and, therefore, of the Second Vice Presidency.

Díaz has shown his "absolute disagreement" with García Andrés' statements that the subsidy reform will seek, in addition to encouraging the labor reintegration of those who receive it, to "enhance" the commitment to activity for the search and acceptance of a job by of the unemployed.

"I guarantee the workers of our country that from this Vice Presidency we are not going to promote any cuts in unemployment benefits. Quite the opposite, the legislative reform that we have proposed has to do with gaining rights, it has to do with the expansion of subjectivities in unemployment benefits," Díaz defended.

The second vice president recalled that recipients of unemployment benefits receive 480 euros per month and that Labor's intention is to "improve the quality of the benefit" and "eliminate bureaucratic aspects that make it worse", such as the so-called waiting month.

Likewise, as was advanced in the investiture agreement between the PSOE and Sumar, Díaz has indicated that he will make the subsidy compatible with a job. "Many times, precisely because of short jobs, both realities could not be reconciled, because now this is what we are going to do," Díaz defended.

"We do not share at all the proposal that is being formulated by Economy," remarked the second vice president, who insisted that "the progressive Government of Spain is not going to cut the unemployment benefit, it is going to improve it, it is going to modernize it." and it will improve its subjective scope". "Working people today can rest assured," she concluded.

For their part, the Ministry of Economy has assured that it is "aligned" with the Ministry of Labor in the elements included in said reform, and have stated that the objective is for the entire system to be oriented towards supporting employment.