–“Oh, four children, by God, and how the young?”. – “I have one and I don’t know how to organize” they tell Santiago González (50 years) and To quadruple the Spanish birth rate, they were left wanting to have the fifth baby.
Santiago Son is 14 years old, Pilar, the second, 13 recently fulfilled, Julia, 11 and the little one, Carlos, 9. When they had to go for another one, about seven years ago, depending on the age of their children, the family economic situation was not optimal. Pilar had yet launched, but Santiago stopped difficulties as an autonomous entrepreneur and Pilar was unemployed. Now, however, with two salaries entering home, “that it shows”, they would want to increase the family, but it is too late for another pregnancy.
The González Garrido family, with their four children, represents the prototype of large family in Spain, according to the latest study of the Spanish Federation of Head Families (FEFN). And, in these demographic winter times, when only 1.12 children on average are have a woman, these big families They claim recognition, that they are heard more and that they think less about them based on already topical prejudices.
“Neither are we all rich, nor all of Opus”
“We are stigmatized, yes, we are told that if we will be of Opus or the Kikos,” says Santiago. “With all respect for the rest of large families, we have not had so many children for religion. Neither all large families are rich nor all of Opus“, says Pilar. In his case he has weighted that the two raised in large families, a life model that both their brothers and their cousins have replicated. They see it natural and, in fact, they do not finish understanding how in recent times, With more difficulties and less means, they had more children than now.
According to Eurostat, considering the group of households with children in the European Union, almost half of the families have a child alone (48.9%), while 38.2% have two, and Only 12.9% have three or more.
In Spain, Social Security statistics say that large families add 818,585 homes. They are increasing The large family title includes new related assumptions With single -parentality, disability and families reconstituted with children of other relationships.
“In Spain there are missing economic and social support policies with what these families contribute to society”
The family nuclei with three children or more, as is the case of the González Garrido, are around 8.5% of the total with 566,599 households in Spain. Baena’s couple knows that navigate to the countercurrent of the social tendency And they consider that the brake on birth in Spain is due to the fact that “for many years there is no family policy” that encourages it.
Penalized for having more children
In the Spanish Federation of large families (FEFN), The association that watches over their rights and defends its peculiarities, remember that “the birth rate in Spain is far from the 2.1 necessary for the natural replacement of the population, with all that this means of population aging and The consequences that this has for pensions and the support of the welfare state. ” In the association they denounce that “in Spain There are missing economic and social support policies with what these families contribute to society in human capital, which is something fundamental for the future. “
“Go to the movies to watch a movie or eat outside, everything multiplies with four children”
Moreover, they denounce that large families, far from being valued, “are often penalized for having more children, in different areas and situationswhen they should be protected and compensated by being contributing to society something fundamental. ”
Santiago and Pilar explain that, not living in a large city, they do not make use of the few benefits of the large family card, such as discounts on public transport. However they feel Penalized by tax such as vehicle traction or garbage rate. “We pay more for being more at home, and surely we recycle better. They also charge us more for having a seven -seater vehicle, which for us is not a luxury but a necessity,” says Pilar.
63% live with less than € 3,000
The federation that represents them periodically makes an radiography of large families in Spain. The last, 2024, reveals that 87% They are formed by married couples, 5% separately or divorced, another similar percentage are de facto couples and the rest monoparental or reconstituted. Disability is very present in the analyzed sample. 22% have a member with disabilities. Minor children are almost equally to public and concerted schools.
According to your study, 63% of households consulted live with less than 3,000 euros per month and 15% do not exceed 1,500. Only in 6% of these homes with five members or more enter more than 6,000 euros per month. On the opposite side, 5% live with less than 900 euros.
“The best thing to be a large family is to be able to see the world through the eyes of four very different creatures among them”
The economy is what ultimately determines or not having childrenaccording to Santiago and Pilar. At the house of the González Garrido, three daily washing machines are placed, the expenditure in sports extracurricular is prioritized, but the summer holiday is renounced, unless an apartment gives them an apartment. If not, pool, town, park and sandwiches. For this family, being baby or young children everything was a little cheaper and now the most bulky expenses begin.
“Go to the movies to watch a movie or eat outside, everything multiplies with four children”pillar accounts. Her husband adds to the extra a major disbursement in the basics: light, gas and the shopping cart.
Waiting for the Family Law
The federation of large families regrets that the Family Law has been stagnant for months in parliamentary processing. From its approval it is expected, in addition to the expansion by permission by birth to 20 weeks, the remuneration of eight weeks for the care of children under 8 years, and that include the permits of 5 days of income or intervention, the the typical childhood pathologies, whether gastroenteritis or flu. They would also look good a monthly endowment per child up to 18, similar to that in other countries, or social security bonuses when hiring support personnel at home.
The González Garrido They have “fortunately” grandparents in Baena and thanks to that reconcile a little better. What does not mean that children already go and come alone from school to the sports center and extracurricular ones, or have to pull parents of friends, if the displacement is greater.
“The best thing to be a large family are them, the children. Being able to see the world through the eyes of four different creatures “, They point. Even so, Santiago does not dare to encourage paternity: “Let him have children who wants and who does not want, no.” Pilar does say that to have children “you have to lite the blanket at the head, not wait to have everything scheduled, because if you do not come and you miss a wonderful adventure.”
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