Changes in the Family Structure in Spain - Essay Example

Changes in the Family Structure in Spain Introduction A family has been taken as a social institution that brings together individuals to bear and raise children and work corporately.1 It was traditionally established by way of marriage. There have been apparent changes in the European family, most notably the attitudes towards children and the roles of women in the society as well as attitudes towards marriage. Beier et al2 notes that the forms and structures of families in Europe have changed considerably from the 1960s and 1970s. The traditional nuclear family model is increasingly getting replaced by alternative models. Although these general trends have taken place across Europe, there have been certain variations and different magnitudes of these changes in different European countries. There are regionally specific patterns that have been noted. Therefore, it would be a matter of oversimplification to talk about the ‘European family’ as such. Thus, this paper looks at that changes that have occurred in the family structure specifically in Spain. It will focus on the working class family and the changes that have taken place from the 20th century to modern times. It will seek to find out the changes that have taken place in the family structure of working class families and the political implication on those changes on the family policy. In doing this, It will highlight the gaps in the family policy that need intervention in order to address those changes and in so doing protect the family unit. Changes in the Family Structure Since the last part of 1978, Spain has undergone economic and socio-political transformations which have changed the country in a big way. The earlier autocratic regime has been replaced by a liberal and capitalist society. These changes occurred in compliance with the European Union conditions.3 In addition, changes have been influenced by globalization and this resulted in the modification of the social structure including the family structure. The family in Spain was basically characterized by nuclear family archetype. The nuclear family was the place of procreation and caring for children. The emergence of non-familial subcultures where people are taking on other types of living arrangements have replace the former family structure4. Gonzales5 calls this change ‘the modernization of the family’ which has resulted to an evolution of the family from a society that was made up of families to a society that is made up of individuals. The changes have resulted in non-traditional families and the emergence of one-person, single-parent households and non-nuclear familiesKelly6 observes that there has been an increase in divorce rates affecting the nuclear family model to single parent families. There has also been a rise in alternative forms of families for instance; ‘living together apart’, same-sex partnerships, co-habitation, remarriages and singlehood. Remarriages create new family relations like the step-parents and step siblings. The family structure of the working-class families in Spain was the ultra-conservative breadwinner model and was promoted by the Franco dictatorship. During Franco’s regime, there was a family crisis especially with the separation of the church and the state. There was the removal of the republican family legislation to ecclesiastic law as the state declared itself catholic. In Franco’s regime, equality on legitimate and illegitimate children was cancelled. Adultery, non-matrimonial cohabitation and contraceptives were penalized. In addition obstacles were put for married who wanted to work. The new changes saw religious marriages become obligatory for those who were baptized. At the onset of the 20th century, the drop in the birthrate became evident. There was also the increase in mother’s paid work. Married women paid work brought about a debate that the functionality of the family was threatened because the mother was abandoning her spouse and her children.7 One of the major characteristic of a working class nuclear family in modern Spain is the dual earner model of the family. Therefore, it is hard to talk about family and employment as completely different entities. As Constanza8 notes, it would be hard to understand the position of women in the labor market if you do not understand their roles in the family. In addition, she says that one cannot understand the men’s freedom to take responsibility in paid work without looking at their family organization. Labor market participation of women is one of the most important changes in the family structure in Spain that has brought with itself several other changes especially in the family policy. There has been a prediction that the ‘housewife’ is going to disappear if the trend continues but Daly9argues that that could be a too premature presumption to make. However, it is clear that the increase in women participation in the labor market has brought about a move two-income families or dual earner families. This is especially so for couples with children. Lewis10 says that this trend has altered the relationship between the family and the economy especially on the issue of employment. There is also a change between the family and the society where there is a division of labor between the family and the state. Social class variations are involved in the issue of women participation in the labor market. This means that educational attainment of women have an effect on whether they will be employed and whether they will have a part-time or a full-time job. This means that women who are highly educated belong to dual-earner families as opposed to those without educational qualifications. This has resulted to an increase in the number of women seeking education. Logan observes that class consciousness means that most working class people gain increasing wealth which translates to decline in social inequality and a tendency to seek educational opportunities to increase their education. This increases the sense of class identification.11 There are several forms of family trends that have taken form along with the changes that have been taking place in the family structure in Spain. One of them is living alone which Daly12 attributes to the change in the family structure. There is a strong sense of individualization and multi-generational households which drives this trend. The second trend is a reduction in the number of marriages. According to Kaufmann13 there is a rising social recognition and respect for parenthood outside wedlock and other forms of partnerships. Thirdly there is a notable trend of fall in fertility. This trend feeds on the acceptance of the notion to move towards smaller households.14 The trend towards individualism has resulted to the changing of the emotional interior in the families. Most families in modern Spain are more complex and in most cases in flux and mutation.15 Du Bois-Reymond says that there has been a shift from an authority-oriented family to negotiating families.16 The change of relations in the family involves a change of relation between spouses and between parents and their children. Women now have more power and the family relationships seem to be turning egalitarian. The state has granted children autonomous rights to act on their own; this has resulted to children to act on their own volition. Changes in the Family Policy in Spain According to Meil17 family policy is a “package of public policy measures, or instruments, articulated to varying degrees that aim to define family ties and protect and/or replace the social functions performed through family life.” The family policy in Spain was effected with by the General Franco’s dictatorship between 1939 and 1975. This policy aimed at protection of the family as the society’s original cell.18 The new policy that was introduced by Franco’s regime saw the church gain power again to settle family matters. The policy was the first to set the Family Subsidies (1938) which gave allowances to families who had dependent children. It also introduced windows and orphans pensions for families with no resources.19 In the same regime, there was the introduction of the Large Family Law which added a 10 percent supplements for families with 4 to 7 children and 20 percent for those families with over seven children. Between 1963 and 1975, reforms on the Social Security system gave rise to the rationalization of the family policy. The reforms involved suppressing of the family bonus as well as family subsidies and standardizing of the allowances of dependent children. This reduced the volume of social resources that were to cater for family obligations. This policy was in effect until the death of General Franco in 1975. This paved way for modern democracy and there were a lot of changes in almost all areas of socio-political life. One of the areas affected by these changes was the family policy. In 1978, there was the establishment of the Democratic Constitutional Law which recognized the lay character of the state. This implied that civil marriages could be as legitimate as the religious marriages and the people had the right to choose the form of marriage they wanted. Other areas that changed with the introduction of the new law were the shaping of the marriage model on the basis of the spouse’s equality of rights and obligations in the family. This meant that both spouses now enjoyed autonomy which was only subject to the interest of the family. This provision was the onset of change and the place of the female as subordinate to male was eliminated. The women were free to make their own decisions. Apart from this change, the new law changed the relationship between the children and their parents. This meant that children born either out of wedlock or in wedlock were equal. Divorce was regulated with the Civil Code Reform.20 This gave rise to a lot of opposition especially from the anti-divorce bodies like the Catholic Church. Divorce procedure was done in a two-step process; separation and divorce. The conservative Popular Party (Partido Popular, PP) came in power in 1996. It took back the issues of the family back to the political agenda. It is this party that introduced new procedures for maternity and parental leave policies. It also initiated new tax policies and improved the child benefit policy.21 Although the implementation of the policies was not at par, the discussion of the policies managed to improve people’s awareness on the family issues. A parliamentary debate on family issues took place in 1997 and came up with a draft family policy that was geared at improving child care and caring for the elderly. The mandate parliament came up with was transformed into a ‘National Plan to Support the Family’. This plan was geared towards the achievement of life balance and better work. This plan endorsed the measures taken by the 1999 act which aimed at promoting the reconciliation of work and family life for the employed people. The 1999 act stretched the three year leave for parents to take care of the children to include taking care of dependent relatives. This act recognized the right for both parents to reduce working hours as individual right instead of a family one. The 1999 Act provided for the protection of recent mothers at work and expectant mothers and allowed a paid leave in case of health risks in the course of the pregnancy. The act also provided for the annulling of dismissals of pregnant mother due to pregnancy and recent mothers due to parental leave. The socialist government has been credited by introducing one of the important laws in the 2007 act for the Effective Equality between Women and Men. This act served toward achieving equal rights for both sexes.22 This act made flexible the maternity and parental leaves in a way that both men and women can reconcile family life and work. Family leave was increased up to two hours and parents could now reduce working hours to take care of children. The government took up paying for the social security contribution for on-leave parents which eliminated the disadvantage of being on leave. The 2007 Act came with the new benefit of which sought to protect against health risk of both mother and child in the course of breast-feeding. It also reduced the contribution requirement for mothers and considered the age of the mother when granting leave.23 The Equality law provided gave the fathers an option of taking a paternity leave by the introduction of the optional 15-day paid paternity leave. Since the introduction of this provision about half of all the eligible fathers have applied for this benefit. This serves to show that this law benefitted the family. Most research work on family policy looks at the extent in which changes in the family structure in both Germany and Spain have promoted equal opportunities to women and men in the labor market as well as provide care for the children and the elderly.24According to Taylor-Gooby25 family policies influence the way gender is constructed socially in the society at the financial, institutional and normative levels. They do this by offering incentives for different kinds of behaviors and releasing cultural signals about the responsibilities of men’s and women’s responsibilities as parents and workers. Parental leave programs that allow leave benefits and rights to caregivers that allow them part-time opportunity for employment. This policy also allows working parents who are care givers to take time off to care for the children. Having the right to flexible and part-time employment as well as having income pegged leave benefits, getting cash benefits for children and access to childcare services allow working class families to combine employment with caring26 A tax system which is based on individual taxation provider offer incentives to members in a household as opposed to having the house-hold-based taxation system. The PP government introduced tax reforms which were geared at developing a family-friendly family policy. This is by the introduction of individual income taxation. However, the taxation benefit seems to be support women who are in the formal sector only. This means that the working women in the informal sector may not be able to enjoy the same benefits. The family policy introduced by the PP government also provides for a €1,200 per year benefit which is given to employed mother with children under three years. It can be payable either in monthly payments or as tax deductions. The amount can also be payable to the father’s child or to a guardian in the absence of the mother. This benefit perhaps offers the best incentive to incorporate women in the labor market and the rise in the working class families. Gaps in the Family Policy From the myriad of changes that have taken, it is evident that mapping out living arrangements have become more complex to predict. One of the areas that pose a challenge to family policy is the decreasing reluctance of people to commit to parenthood. It is evident that couples have to sit and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of having a family. Kaufmann27identifies three problems encountered by young people when making decision on whether to have children or not; balancing between work and family, lack of sufficient resources to support children and marrying their long term perspectives. Coming up with a policy that addresses these fears is a challenging area that the state should take on to protect the family unit. Another area that poses a big challenge to the family policy is the division of the parenthood and non-family partnerships. It seems that most youth are ready to go through life without children. It is becoming hard for the women to combine family and work and as the trend suggests, women are choosing work rather than family. This is especially because the family policy in Spain has not provided good incentives for working women. Women often feel overburdened since they are responsible for most work at home and they still have to work and take care of children. In fact, Gershuny28 says that an average woman does two or three times unpaid work done by men. The leave for the women remain unpaid. This reduces the incentive for the family member who is the higher earner from taking the leave and in most cases in heterosexual families the highest earner is the man.29 In other types of families, like the lone-parent families, the parent finds it hard to take a long leave since the family may suffer financially. The amount of child allowance is still low. According to Taylor, the PP increased the means-tested child allowances. The €291.00 annual allowance is given to a child below 18 years whose parent earn and income below €11,266.75 per year. This amount has been increased to €500 but for children below 3 years. According to these amounts, the child allowance is not adequate. In addition for dual earner parents, it would reduce the incentive for the women. This affects especially the working-class families which are characterized by both parents working. Although the policy offers benefits to employed women with children below three years, the benefits are only payable to women in full-time employment. This discriminates on women who are in part-time employment. As highlighted earlier, the benefit is also applicable to women in the formal sector. This excludes women in the informal sector. This raises concerns over its effectiveness and equality in serving women as it does not cover a majority of women. Spain is a country has a high rate of senior citizens and issues of social welfare and care are left to women. Given the aging population, it is faces with demographic challenges especially on the social protection systems.30 There is no developed policy of offering social services to children and dependent family members. Conclusion It is evident that Spain has been in a continuing strategy to change the family policy according to the changes that are happening in the family structure. However, there are major areas that need an overhaul. Such areas include the unpaid parental leave program, the lack of strong incentives for men to take on caring responsibilities and women to take on jobs in the formal sector. There is also the lack of public services for young children. Although the family structure has undergone major changes, the roles of the men as the earners and those of women as carers have remained intact. Revising the family policy according to the changing family trends remain a government imperative. In 2006, Pope Benedict is quoted to appeal to the government to form family policies that will protect the family institution.31 It is evident that the family roles of women have changed and women as well as men work and the number of dual-earner families have increased. However, the state and the society should take all the steps necessary to come up with policies that will protect the family in Spain. Bibliography Daly, Mary, "Changing family life in Europe: Significance for state and society." European Societies 7, no. 3, (2005), p. 379-398. Daly, Mary. ‘Changing conceptions of family and gender relations in European welfare states and the Third Way’, in J. Lewis and R. Surrender (eds), Welfare State Change: Towards a Third Way? (2004b), Oxford:Oxford University Press, pp. 135 /54 Du Bois-Reymond, ‘Negotiation strategies in modern families: What does it mean for global citizenship?’, in K. Matthijs and A. Van den Troost (eds), The Family: Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges, (1998) Leuven: Leuven University Press, pp. 57 /71 Gerardo Meil, ‘The evolution of Family Policy in Spain’, The HaworthPress, 39, no. 3/4 (2006), p. 359-380 Gershuny, J, ‘Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Post-Industrial Society’, (2000), New York: Oxford University Press James Kelly, ‘Challenges to the traditional nuclear family’, Social issues. http://www.spr.tcdlife.ie/seperatearticles/xxarticles/socialnuclear.pdf John Logan, ‘Affluence, class structure, and working-class consciousness in modern Spain’, American Journal of Sociology, 83, no. 2 (1977), p. 386-402 Križ, Katrin, and Olga Salido, "Recent Family Policy Developments in Germany and Spain: Toward Gender Equality in Earning and Caring?." Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association1(2008) Kaufmann, F.-X. ‘Politics and policies towards the family in Europe: A framework and an enquiry into their differences and convergences’, in F.-X. Kaufmann, A. Kuijsten, H.-J. Schulze and K. P. Strohmeier (eds), Family Life and Family Policies in Europe Vol. 2 (2002) Problems and Issues in Comparative Perspective, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 419 /90 Lewis, J ‘Gender and welfare state change’, European Societies 4, no. 4 (2003) p. 331 /57 Loreen Beier, Elisa Marchese, Marina Rupp, ‘Family structures and Family forms’, Working Report Summary (April 2010). http://www.expoo.be/sites/default/files/kennisdocument/Summary_Family_StructuresFamily_Forms.pdf Maria Gonzales, ‘The changing structure of households and families and its impact on health in spain’, Finisterra, 89 (2010), p. 9-25. Maria Sanminiatelli - Associated Press, Writer. 2006. "Pope Appeals for Protection of Family." AP OnlineNewspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost Taylor-Gooby, ‘Ideas and Welfare State Reform in Western Europe’, (2005) New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tobío, Constanza. 2001. "Working and mothering - Women's strategies in Spain." European Societies 3, no. 3: 339-371 . Read More

The family in Spain was basically characterized by nuclear family archetype. The nuclear family was the place of procreation and caring for children. The emergence of non-familial subcultures where people are taking on other types of living arrangements have replace the former family structure4. Gonzales5 calls this change ‘the modernization of the family’ which has resulted to an evolution of the family from a society that was made up of families to a society that is made up of individuals.

The changes have resulted in non-traditional families and the emergence of one-person, single-parent households and non-nuclear familiesKelly6 observes that there has been an increase in divorce rates affecting the nuclear family model to single parent families. There has also been a rise in alternative forms of families for instance; ‘living together apart’, same-sex partnerships, co-habitation, remarriages and singlehood. Remarriages create new family relations like the step-parents and step siblings.

The family structure of the working-class families in Spain was the ultra-conservative breadwinner model and was promoted by the Franco dictatorship. During Franco’s regime, there was a family crisis especially with the separation of the church and the state. There was the removal of the republican family legislation to ecclesiastic law as the state declared itself catholic. In Franco’s regime, equality on legitimate and illegitimate children was cancelled. Adultery, non-matrimonial cohabitation and contraceptives were penalized.

In addition obstacles were put for married who wanted to work. The new changes saw religious marriages become obligatory for those who were baptized. At the onset of the 20th century, the drop in the birthrate became evident. There was also the increase in mother’s paid work. Married women paid work brought about a debate that the functionality of the family was threatened because the mother was abandoning her spouse and her children.7 One of the major characteristic of a working class nuclear family in modern Spain is the dual earner model of the family.

Therefore, it is hard to talk about family and employment as completely different entities. As Constanza8 notes, it would be hard to understand the position of women in the labor market if you do not understand their roles in the family. In addition, she says that one cannot understand the men’s freedom to take responsibility in paid work without looking at their family organization. Labor market participation of women is one of the most important changes in the family structure in Spain that has brought with itself several other changes especially in the family policy.

There has been a prediction that the ‘housewife’ is going to disappear if the trend continues but Daly9argues that that could be a too premature presumption to make. However, it is clear that the increase in women participation in the labor market has brought about a move two-income families or dual earner families. This is especially so for couples with children. Lewis10 says that this trend has altered the relationship between the family and the economy especially on the issue of employment.

There is also a change between the family and the society where there is a division of labor between the family and the state. Social class variations are involved in the issue of women participation in the labor market. This means that educational attainment of women have an effect on whether they will be employed and whether they will have a part-time or a full-time job. This means that women who are highly educated belong to dual-earner families as opposed to those without educational qualifications.

This has resulted to an increase in the number of women seeking education. Logan observes that class consciousness means that most working class people gain increasing wealth which translates to decline in social inequality and a tendency to seek educational opportunities to increase their education.

Read More