I am a Ni-Ni
Posted: October 9, 2012 Filed under: Blog, Photos | Tags: barcelona, Ni-ni generation, spain, unemployment, youth unemployment 1 CommentToday’s post is written by Albert Lladó, a recent university graduate in Barcelona. He shares with us why he feels part of the so-called Ni-Ni generation, a term that’s used to describe young people who are neither studying nor working. To read the Catalan version, please scroll down. As always, we welcome your questions, thoughts and comments.
Albert Lladó describes himself as a “Ni-Ni”
I Am a Ni-Ni by Albert Lladó
I am 23 years old. I don’t study, nor do I work. I live with my parents. To sum it up, I form part of the Ni-Ni generation, the 23% of the young who are the laughing stock of Spain and a concern for the world- or at least the world that is interested in public opinion, namely the OECD. But let’s get away, for the time being, from the cold digits that position Spain in second place of countries with the greatest number of supposedly lazy, young people who don’t have a job, nor are they being trained to get one. Which brings us one step closer to my situation. At the end of the day, statistics is a science that claims that if your neighbor has two cars and you don’t have any, then both of you have one, as summarized by the playwright George Bernard Shaw. And we’re not all on the same boat. Read the rest of this entry »
In the Antipodes (From a Country Without Hope)
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: Blog, Photos | Tags: barcelona, emigration, spain, youth unemployment 3 CommentsThis week we have a moving guest blog post from Martí Quintana, a 26-year old journalist from Girona. Like tens of thousands of young Spaniards, Martí is packing his bags and about to move to the other side of the world in search of a better life. To read more of Martí’s work, have a look at his blog, Historias de un Hp al Cubo (in Spanish), and check out his photos.
As always, we look forward to any comments. What do you think of Marti’s story? Do you think young people educated in Spain have an obligation to ‘give back’ to their country’s economy? Are you surprised that more people aren’t emigrating given Spain’s current situation? Are you toying with the idea of emigrating? Why? Where would you go?
Photo by Martí Quintana
In the Antipodes (from a country without hope) by Martí Quintana
This time I’m not traveling. I’m emigrating. I don’t know for how long nor to what end. But I do know that I have the impetuous need to distance myself from this country that today is nothing more than a sack of broken dreams. I decided to put some ground between me and Spain and go as far as I can: New Zealand. The complete antipode. With a one-way ticket; the return journey is unknown. Read the rest of this entry »
What about the 49%?
Posted: August 7, 2012 Filed under: Blog | Tags: barcelona, spain, youth unemplyment 2 CommentsLogic tells us that if 51% refers to the youth unemployed rate, then that means that 49% of Spain’s youth are supposed to be working. Right? What does that 
mean exactly? That they have a stable job, a contract, social security? How do you define ‘being employed’ (or for that matter ‘unemployed’) in Spain? Does making 3 euro/hour count as employment? What about part-time work? Or internships? How many of the 49% are exploited because of the dire job market? Where is the line drawn between the 49% and the 51%?
If you have an opinion or think you have some answers to these questions, get in touch. Feel free to share your story with us. Are you working? Are you happy with your job? Do you think your work is undervalued? What are you doing about it? Why do you accept these conditions? We’ll be publishing some personal accounts over the next weeks. Our e-mail: 51percentBCN@gmail.com.
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