Unemployed individuals over 45 years old and young people have become two of the priority groups within the new active employment policies promoted by the Government and coordinated by the State Public Employment Service (SEPE). Although this does not involve a new general economic aid or an extraordinary subsidy, it does entail the deployment of new labor orientation, training, and coaching programs to facilitate integration into the job market.

The measure is part of the Spanish Active Employment Support Strategy 2025-2028, approved by the Executive and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). This strategy will serve as a framework for distributing billions of euros among the autonomous communities for employment policies, professional requalification, and personalized attention to unemployed individuals facing greater difficulties in finding work.

The Government's objective is to particularly strengthen support for vulnerable groups in a context marked by demographic aging, the digital transformation of employment, and increased pension spending. According to the latest projections from the National Statistics Institute (INE), Spain will see an increase in the population over 65 in the coming decades, while reports from AIReF and the Santalucía Institute – among others – have warned for years about the need to increase employment and extend working careers to ensure the sustainability of the pension system.

The main novelty is not the creation of a new 'payment,' but rather a change in the model of attention to the unemployed. The new state strategy focuses on more individualized labor orientation, with personalized pathways, continuous monitoring, and programs adapted to each person's profile.

Priority groups include young people, long-term unemployed individuals, those over 45 years old, people with disabilities, women facing particular insertion difficulties, and beneficiaries of subsidies or benefits.

For those over 45, the focus is on improving the labor reintegration of workers who often face greater obstacles in returning to the job market after losing their jobs. To achieve this, administrations can promote digital requalification programs, intensive guidance, subsidized training, and professional support measures.

Young people, on the other hand, will continue to have priority access to initiatives related to dual training, first professional experience programs, the Youth Guarantee, and sectors linked to digitalization and the green economy.

Access to these programs will largely depend on each autonomous community and the specific calls published by public employment services. However, state regulations establish some general requirements that are likely to be common in most cases. These include being registered as a job seeker, keeping the registration updated with the corresponding regional service, participating in employment integration pathways, and meeting the specific conditions of each training or orientation program.

Applications can be processed through regional employment offices and, in some cases, via the electronic headquarters of SEPE or regional employment services.

What is officially confirmed at this time is the reinforcement of active employment policies and the prioritization of certain groups within the new state strategy. The distribution of public funds to finance employment integration, training, and coaching programs has also been approved. However, no new direct financial aid has been announced for all unemployed individuals over 45 or for all unemployed youth. The subsidy for those over 52, for example, continues to exist with its current regulations and will operate independently of these new employment policies.

The underlying challenge for the Spanish labor market remains structural. Spain maintains one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe and a significant volume of long-term unemployment among senior workers. Therefore, the Government is now seeking to reinforce a more personalized model aimed at improving real employability, in a scenario increasingly conditioned by population aging and future pressure on the pension system.