The most extreme cases can mean resort to the soup kitchens. | Jaume Morey - Archive

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Fundación Adecco, the charitable division of the recruitment multinational in Spain, is highlighting information from the National Statistics Institute's survey of living conditions which indicates that almost 60% of Balearics households struggle to make it to the end of the month.

This percentage equates to 265,838 households and is subdivided into 8.8% which have "great difficulty", 21.1% which experience "difficulty" and 28.5% which face "some difficulty".

Adecco reports that that there has been an 11.4% increase in the 58.4% total since 2018. Francisco Mesonero, the managing director of Fundación Adecco, says that factors such as economic growth do not necessarily result in a reduction of poverty. These factors do not as such "measure real social welfare".

Mesonero argues that sustainable employment is the main means for combating families' financial difficulties and social inequality. The challenge, he notes, is with population groups such as the disabled, the over-55s and the long-term unemployed. "They don't have access to the labour market and nor do they have guarantees of a decent living."

In order for employment to become sustainable for everyone, business diversity and inclusion polices need to play a key role. The business world, Mesonero concludes, has "much to give" in terms of the UN Agenda 2030 and will need to develop actions for inclusion that empower the most vulnerable in society.