As most other European countries, Spain faces the challenge of securing old age pensions in times of a two-fold, contradictory pressure: on the one hand, fiscal austerity requires pension cutbacks, whereas at the same time, the spread of atypical employment and unemployment creates new social needs of labor market outsiders. Both sources of pressure are particularly acute in Spain given the insider-focus of its traditional pension regime and the dramatic changes in labor market prospects especially for the younger generations.

Higher education policy involves a series of trade-offs among austerity, productivity, and equality. Only two of these three goals can be achieved at once. Spain currently has an elitist higher education system that is failing to produce a large high-skilled workforce – in short, it has a productivity problem.

La política de enseñanza superior implica una serie de trade-offs entre austeridad, productividad e igualdad, pero únicamente dos de esos tres objetivos pueden alcanzarse a la vez. En la actualidad, España posee un sistema elitista de educación superior que está fracasando en conseguir una mano de obra amplia y altamente cualificada, es decir, se trata de un problema de productividad.