In Spain, people suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder still face major difficulties in accessing employment. A recent analysis reveals that, despite limited progress between 2018 and 2023, their situation remains much less favorable than that of individuals with other health problems. In 2023, only 15% of people with schizophrenia were working, compared to 38% for those with bipolar disorder, while this rate reached 63% for the general population.<\/p>\n
Disability pensions, often granted due to the inability to work, affected nearly half of people with schizophrenia and more than a quarter of those with bipolar disorder. However, these figures have decreased over the years, from 62% to 49% for schizophrenia and from 37% to 26% for bipolar disorder. This decline is not due to a real improvement in professional integration, but rather to administrative changes. Indeed, a category grouping less clear statuses, such as affiliations to special schemes or undefined classifications, has increased sharply. This evolution could be linked to a 2021 legal reform, which replaced the concept of disability with a model based on decision-making support, thereby changing how these people are classified.<\/p>\n
The observed trends also show that men and women follow similar trajectories in terms of employment, with one notable exception: economic inactivity has decreased more rapidly among women, across all diagnoses. This suggests that women, although facing specific obstacles such as family responsibilities or discrimination, may have benefited from more pronounced transitions out of the labor market or towards other statuses.<\/p>\n
The results highlight that, despite advances in mental health services and the general improvement of the labor market in Spain, the gap persists. People with severe psychiatric disorders remain on the margins of employment, reflecting a lasting functional burden. The progress observed, while real, remains insufficient to bridge this gap. Disability pensions have declined, but this reduction seems more linked to administrative adjustments than to genuine professional integration. Thus, structural and social barriers continue to limit access to work for these populations.<\/p>\n
DOI:<\/strong> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00406-026-02279-x<\/a><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> Employment trends in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in Spain: a nationwide register-based study (2018\u20132023)<\/p>\n Journal:<\/strong> European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/strong> Springer Science and Business Media LLC<\/p>\n Authors:<\/strong> Vicent Llorca-Bof\u00ed; Gerard Anmella; Daniel Guinart; Catalina Paredes-Coronel; Diego Hidalgo-Mazzei; Eduard Vieta; Miquel Bioque<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Work remains a challenge for people with severe psychiatric disorders in Spain In Spain, people suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder still face major difficulties in accessing employment. A recent analysis reveals that, despite limited progress between 2018 and 2023, their situation remains much less favorable than that of individuals with other health problems. In… Continue reading Work remains a challenge for people with severe psychiatric disorders in Spain<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy-business","category-health","category-politics","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30,"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions\/30"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationofpsychology.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}