Report on the Socio-Economic Precarity of Migrant Women in Spain in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This report analyzes the structural conditions affecting migrant women in Spain, with a particular focus on the period during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings highlight significant challenges in achieving several key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including:

• SDG 1: No Poverty – The constant risk of administrative irregularity directly contributes to economic instability and poverty.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – Precarious legal, housing, and employment status has severe psychosocial and health impacts.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality – The research specifically illuminates the vulnerabilities faced by women within migrant populations.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – The dependency on temporary employment contracts undermines the principles of decent and stable work.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – The study exposes deep-seated inequalities driven by immigration status and national origin.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – Challenges in accessing stable housing threaten the creation of inclusive communities.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – The report questions the justice and efficacy of immigration laws that perpetuate vulnerability.

Analysis of Spain’s Immigration Policy and its Impact on Decent Work (SDG 8) and Inequality (SDG 10)

The Paradox of Legal Stability and Systemic Precarity

Spain’s immigration policy is designed to promote legal and administrative regularity as the standard for non-EU migrants. However, the implementation of this policy creates a state of continuous vulnerability. The primary mechanism for this precarity is the linkage of residence and work permits to fixed-term employment contracts, often lasting only one year. This system ensures that the loss of formal employment immediately places individuals at risk of falling into administrative irregularity and social exclusion, directly contravening the objectives of SDG 8 (Decent Work) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Key Findings from Narrative Analysis

Based on the narratives of eight migrant women, this report identifies several critical areas where policy fails to protect vulnerable populations, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Employment Insecurity: The requirement for continuous employment to maintain legal status forces migrant women into precarious, often exploitative, labor conditions. This undermines their economic stability and long-term integration prospects.
2. Administrative Exclusion: The loss of a job triggers a cycle of administrative exclusion, making it difficult to access social services, healthcare, and legal recourse, thereby exacerbating inequality.
3. Structural Barriers to Housing (SDG 11): The precarious legal and employment status creates significant obstacles to securing safe and stable housing, a fundamental component of sustainable and inclusive communities.

The Disproportionate Impact on Migrant Women: A Failure in Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Health (SDG 3)

Intersectional Vulnerabilities

The challenges identified are acutely felt by migrant women, who face intersecting forms of discrimination based on their gender, migrant status, and socio-economic position. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified these pre-existing structural inequalities.

• Psychosocial and Health Impacts (SDG 3): The constant stress of maintaining legal status, coupled with insecure work and housing, leads to significant negative psychosocial and health outcomes. This demonstrates a critical gap in ensuring well-being for all.
• Marginalization and Social Exclusion: The systemic barriers effectively marginalize migrant women, limiting their participation in society and access to fundamental rights, which is a direct challenge to achieving gender equality as outlined in SDG 5.

Community Resilience and Collective Action

Response to Systemic Gaps

In response to the material and psychosocial needs unmet by state institutions during the pandemic, collective self-management initiatives emerged within migrant communities. These initiatives provided essential support, including:

• Material aid to combat poverty and food insecurity (SDG 1).
• Psychosocial support networks to promote mental health and well-being (SDG 3).
• Shared resources and information to navigate housing and employment crises (SDG 11).

The emergence of these grassroots efforts highlights both the resilience of the community and the significant failures of existing institutional frameworks to provide an adequate safety net, as called for in SDG 16.

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • The article specifically focuses on the challenges faced by “migrant women,” highlighting a vulnerable subgroup whose experiences are shaped by the intersection of their gender and migrant status. This directly connects to the goal of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

   • The core of the article discusses “precarious employment” and the fact that “residence and work permits are typically tied to one-year employment contracts.” This points to a lack of decent work and economic security, which is a central theme of SDG 8.

3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • The article explicitly addresses “structural inequalities,” “social exclusion,” and “marginalization” affecting migrants. It analyzes how Spain’s immigration policy creates a vulnerable class of people, which is a direct concern of SDG 10, aimed at reducing inequality within and among countries.

4. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • The mention of “psychosocial impact” and the research topic’s focus on the “Health of Undocumented Migrant Women” clearly link the article’s content to SDG 3. The precarious legal and economic situation described has direct consequences on the mental and physical health of these women.

5. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • The article identifies “access to… housing” as a key challenge shaped by immigration law. This relates to SDG 11, which includes the goal of ensuring access to adequate, safe, and affordable housing for all.

6. SDG 1: No Poverty

   • The discussion of “material… needs” and the emergence of “collective self-management initiatives” to address them indicates that the migrant women are facing conditions of poverty and material deprivation, linking the issues to SDG 1.

7. SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

   • The article’s analysis of Spain’s “immigration policy” and its impact on creating “administrative exclusion” and constant risk of “irregularity” relates to SDG 16. The instability of legal status is a failure of institutions to provide a secure legal identity for all residents.

Specific SDG Targets

1. Target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, particularly women migrants, and those in precarious employment.

   • This target is directly relevant as the article focuses on migrant women in “precarious employment” and highlights how the system tying work permits to short-term contracts creates an insecure environment, undermining their labor rights and stability.

2. Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

   • The article describes how immigration law leads to “social exclusion” and “marginalization” based on migrant status. The entire analysis is about the failure to achieve the social and economic inclusion of migrant women.

3. Target 10.7: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.

   • The article critiques Spain’s immigration policy, which, despite aiming for regularity, creates “ongoing vulnerability to administrative exclusion.” This suggests the policy is not “well-managed” in a way that ensures safe and stable conditions for migrants.

4. Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

   • The article explicitly points to “structural inequalities affecting access to… housing” as a major challenge for migrant women, directly aligning with the objective of this target.

5. Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

   • The mention of “psychosocial impact” and “health” challenges implies a lack of access to healthcare services, which is a common consequence of irregular or precarious legal status. The vulnerability described would prevent the attainment of universal health coverage for this group.

6. Target 16.9: By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.

   • The central problem discussed is the instability of legal status. The fact that migrants “remain at constant risk of falling into irregularity” shows a failure to provide a secure and stable legal identity, which is the essence of this target.

Implied or Mentioned Indicators

1. Number of non-EU migrants in irregular situations.

   • The article explicitly mentions that Spain’s policy results in a “relatively low number of non-EU migrants in irregular situations.” This is a direct quantitative indicator that can be used to measure the outcome of immigration policies (relevant to Target 10.7).

2. Proportion of residence permits tied to short-term employment contracts.

   • The article states that “residence and work permits are typically tied to one-year employment contracts.” This can be formulated as an indicator to measure the precarity embedded in the legal system for migrants (relevant to Target 8.8).

3. Rates of housing insecurity among migrant women.

   • This is implied by the statement about “challenges they face in… access to… housing.” An indicator measuring the percentage of migrant women in unstable or inadequate housing would track progress toward Target 11.1.

4. Prevalence of psychosocial distress among migrant women.

   • This indicator is implied by the article’s reference to the “psychosocial impact” of precariousness. Measuring levels of stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges would quantify this impact and relate to Target 3.8.

5. Proportion of migrant women experiencing social exclusion.

   • The article’s keywords include “social exclusion” and “marginalization.” This could be measured through surveys assessing access to social services, community participation, and experiences of discrimination, providing data for Target 10.2.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

Source: frontiersin.org