Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2012. The figures are attributed to the INE Labour Force Survey (EPA) as published around 2012, and the original gives no reference year, edition or link for them.
They say health comes first, then family, and work third. But according to statistical sources, more than half a million employees receive personal assistance to do their jobs and almost six hundred thousand more use some kind of special equipment because of their particular working conditions. Together they add up to more than a million employees.
According to data from the Labour Force Survey (Encuesta de Población Activa, EPA) carried out by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), all of them need special conditions in order to work. In total, more than seven million people aged 16 to 64 say they have some illness or limitation that affects their basic activities. One in four of them reports a chronic illness or health problem. Worse still, one in thirteen says they have more than one illness.
The most common problems
Back and neck problems affect nearly two million people aged 16 to 64. They are followed by problems with the legs or feet, the heart, blood pressure or circulation.
Back and neck problems are the most common at every age studied, except among the youngest, whose main complaint is chest and breathing problems, which affect 21% of people aged 16 to 24.
Among those who report limitations, other difficulties include: 26% find it hard to lift or carry things, 22% to walk or climb stairs, and 17% report vision problems despite wearing glasses or contact lenses. Vision problems are more common among men, while most women point to difficulty lifting or carrying things.
Of the 33% who say they are limited in the type of work they can do, women are the most affected, and these limitations increase as employees get older.
A barrier to getting a job
Under the Spanish Constitution, this is not grounds for restricting access to jobs. Indeed, depending on their size, companies have a set percentage of positions they must fill with employees who report some kind of limitation.
In reality, and those who have been through it can say so, it is a reason for exclusion in selection processes, even though a company never states it publicly as the reason when deciding between one candidate and another.
Featured image: Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
