USO warns of widening wage-price gap as food costs surge 45% since 2021

On Wednesday, Spain's USO labor union released a stark accounting of how far wages have fallen behind the cost of living. The numbers tell a story of economic squeeze that has tightened most viciously in recent years. From 2021 to 2025, food prices climbed 45.3 percent while wages rose just 17.3 percent. Over the longer span from 2008 to 2025, the picture is even more damning: salaries accumulated a gain of 31.6 percent, trailing both overall inflation at 37.1 percent and food prices, which surged 54.3 percent. The research, conducted by Syndex for USO, forms the backbone of the union's case for taking to Madrid's streets on May 1st.

The burden falls heaviest on those with the least. The poorest fifth of Spanish households now spend 60 percent of their income on housing, utilities, and food—the three necessities that cannot be deferred. Among the wealthiest households, that same basket of essentials consumes only 40 percent of the budget, leaving them room to absorb shocks. USO's leadership emphasizes that the squeeze has accelerated sharply between 2021 and 2025, making the cost of living "suffocating" for anyone who entered the job market in recent years. The union notes that living alone compounds the crisis—particularly for single parents trying to cover fixed housing costs on a single income.

Joaquín Pérez, USO's general secretary, frames the crisis as a form of dehumanization. "Machines are replacing us, and at the same time people are being treated like machines: as if they have no needs, deserve no leisure, exist only to work," he said. He points out that while overall inflation has moderated recently, it sits atop prices that were already inflated by sharp spikes in summer 2022, when increases exceeded 10 percent. The baseline has shifted upward permanently. For lower-income households and recent job market entrants, there is no cushion between income and outflow. Every price increase is felt immediately.

The data on household spending reveals a grim reorientation of family budgets. Average household expenditure reached 26,510 euros in 2024, up 18.7 percent from 2016. But USO argues this increase does not reflect improved living standards—rather, it shows how consumption patterns have been warped by necessity. Spending on food, housing, and utilities has grown while discretionary categories like clothing, furniture, and home maintenance have contracted. Families have no room to maneuver. The fixed costs have expanded, leaving less for everything else. "We live worse today than we did two decades ago, and worse than five years ago," Pérez warned.

Housing deserves particular attention. Beyond what appears in inflation statistics, housing is the single greatest pressure on family finances. From 2008 to 2025, the average price per square meter rose from 8 euros to 14.70 euros—an 83.7 percent increase. Between 2015 and 2025 alone, the jump was nearly 100 percent, reaching 98.6 percent. By February 2026, prices had climbed further to 15 euros per square meter. New housing has more than doubled in price since 2015, up 106.4 percent; used housing is up 75.8 percent. For anyone who did not own a home before this crisis began, the prospect of ever owning one recedes further with each passing year.

Single-person households face the sharpest squeeze. Because housing costs, utilities, and basic food expenses are non-negotiable, a person living alone must cover them entirely from their own wages. Over the past decade, spending for single-adult households has risen 24.2 percent. For single parents, the figure climbs to nearly 27 percent as food costs rise with each additional child. Pérez poses the question bluntly: "Should a person who wants or needs to live alone be condemned? Should they be denied housing and basic services? Must they give up new clothes, leisure time, replacing broken appliances? This is dehumanizing society and work."

USO has decided to return its main May 1st demonstration to Madrid after years of rotating it through other Spanish cities. The union expects around 6,000 participants, with 5,000 already confirmed. Delegations are coming from across Spain—Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, La Rioja, Aragón, Extremadura, Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, and Madrid itself. Union officials describe it as the largest solo demonstration USO has organized in decades. The march will begin at 11 a.m. from Delicias station and conclude around 12:30 p.m. at the Plaza de las Cortes, where Pérez will deliver closing remarks. The union's rallying cry is the "humanization of employment"—a demand that work should provide not just survival, but dignity and the possibility of a life beyond the wage.