Airef sees a “slightly positive” influence of minimal wage will increase or labor reform within the financial system | Economy | EUROtoday
The Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority (Airef) believes that the rise within the minimal interprofessional wage (SMI), labor reform and different authorities adjustments within the labor market have had “a limited impact, although slightly positive, on economic activity, employment and social quotes in terms of GDP”. In addition, it emphasizes that on the similar time the chance of insertion within the labor market has improved and the danger of lack of employment has been lowered, “with a fall in temporality and a greater presence of indefinite contracts.” Although he additionally estimates that the wage rise has prevented the creation of 1000’s of jobs.
Airef impressions are based mostly on 5 technical paperwork distributed by the company on Monday, with which it ready its report on the sustainability of lengthy -term public administrations in March. Three of them serve to evaluate the pension spending rule: one measures the influence of the SMI on employment, one other the impact of labor reform measures on the labor market (not solely the change of 2021, however the set of regulatory modifications) and one other how these turns influence on the revenue from quotes.
In the doc devoted to the impact of the SMI, the Airef emphasizes that the 2019 rise (the biggest of current years, when it went from 736 euros a month to 900 – now it’s situated at 1,184—) lowered the creation of employment between 0.28 and 0.45 share factors, which interprets right into a fork of 40,000 to 65,000 associates to social safety. And regardless of being much less cumbersome, the rise of 2023 had a larger influence, between 55,000 to 85,000 associates, for affecting a larger variety of perceptors (because the SMI goes up, it encompasses extra staff).
“However,” clarifies the physique chaired by Cristina Herrero, this calculation on the variations of the SMI “only estimates direct effects due to affiliation, without considering indirect impacts such as the possible increase in consumption or changes in salary distribution.” That is, the best demand related to the rise in wages and different comparable elements will not be taken under consideration.
This extra international evaluation can also be developed by Airef, making an allowance for each the will increase of the minimal wage till 2024 and the normative modifications in labor issues of current years, amongst which the labor reform permitted in 2021 stands out.
“Together, the increase in wages has a greater relevance than the initial fall in employment, which makes the impact on the available homes positive, promoting consumption and therefore the activity,” says Airef. The steadiness between the employment misplaced instantly and the push to consumption outcomes that “real GDP would increase slightly,” he concludes.
Regarding the will increase of the minimal wage, for instance, the company calculates that “they would have had a slightly expansive effect both on GDP and on employment and income from social quotes”, and specifies that progress in “0.1 percentage points in the average of 2022-2050”. employment.
Analysts point out that regulatory adjustments in labor issues have additionally resulted in a “generalized improvement of the probability of unemployment output, especially towards indefinite and fixed discontinuous contracts.” And “in parallel, observes a reduction in the probability of loss of the job, especially in the traditionally more vulnerable groups,” as girls and younger folks. Airef extracts these conclusions after evaluating the stage after 2022 (with the labor reform in full improvement) with the 2018-2019 interval.
The labor reform eradicated the contract by work and repair and restricted the eventualities during which short-term hiring might be practiced, which resulted in a vertiginous rise of indefinite hiring (abnormal mounted route and, to a lesser extent, discontinuous). “In sum, the reforms have improved added insertion and stability and have contributed to partially reducing segmentation, in line with the fall of temporality and the greater presence of indefinite contracts,” says Airef.
More and extra SMI perceptors
Back to the minimal wage, Airef emphasizes that the rise in SMI lately has triggered the proportion of staff who enter it. There is a “concentration of workers around the new threshold and at the directly higher levels.” Thus, whereas in 2018, 3.5% of the employees had been quoted by the minimal base – in order that they understand the SMI -, in 2023 they had been 7.4%, greater than double. Moreover, those that earn solely a little bit greater than the minimal wage advance with much more pressure: in 2018 7.9% of staff quoted for 125% of the minimal base and in 2023 they had been 22.8%.

“This phenomenon suggests greater salary convergence around the minimum wage, which in the short term can increase system income, but also generate future commitments for the pension system,” says Airef in its report. The fiscal authority doesn’t determine “a proportional displacement of the salary structure”, in order that the remainder of the remuneration scale to the sound of the SMI, “but rather a greater concentration of wages around that value.” “This suggests an improvement in the level of wages, but also a grouping around the lowest levels of distribution,” provides the airf.
The defenders of the SMI will increase have been pointing to the optimistic impact on the remainder of wages as one of many most important virtues of the will increase by decree. This Airef examine doesn’t seize the existence of this phenomenon, however organism sources underline that they haven’t stopped to review it particularly: “Without a detailed analysis in which it is controlled by other factors such as the shortage of labor recorded in some sectors, the impact of the SMI’s increases on the salary distribution cannot be determined.” However, the fiscal authority means that the impact is scarce: cites a current evaluation of Eurofund that “finds that the effects of the increase in the minimum wage on salary distribution are reduced.”
The evaluation additionally evaluations the profile of those that cost the minimal wage, which has modified because the will increase. It has a larger prevalence in teams during which it was much less vital: amongst males it goes from 3.2% to six.4% of staff; per age group scale of three.5% to 7.4% from 26 to 35 years; and amongst these with a medium schooling degree, it goes from 3.3% to eight.4%. “These effects are also observed in the whole individuals with salaries up to 125% of the SMI, which could become a collective perceptor of the SMI in the coming years,” provides the airf.
https://elpais.com/economia/2025-09-22/la-airef-ve-un-impacto-ligeramente-positivo-de-las-subidas-del-salario-minimo-o-la-reforma-laboral-en-la-economia.html