While we might be tempted to say that a lot of the changes that Spain is seeing in terms of what family looks like are really more or less the same as seen by many other Western countries, we would miss the fact that Spain’s historical, cultural and economic context is unique – and therefore the changes in the family in Spain should be looked at through its own particular lens.
Spain’s historical context in terms of family
During the 20th century, Spain’s political scene swung dramatically from one end of the scale to the other before paving the way to a more middle ground towards the end of the century.
The Second Spanish Republic was formed in 1931 after elections forced the king to flee the country.
The Second Republic was left-wing and introduced all kinds of reforms that affected family life. Women were granted the right to vote, civil marriages were introduced (marriages not performed by the Catholic church) and divorce was legalised.
But when Franco’s troops declared victory in the Civil War in 1939, he reversed these laws, favouring traditional values supported by the Catholic church.
Spain’s cultural context in terms of family
With almost 40 years of living under a dictatorship, a lot of Spain’s culture was formed around the traditional family values that Franco fostered, including religious marriage and having children.
It was normal for women to stay at home looking after their husbands, children and older relatives.
Even though many Spanish women now work outside the home, women continue to take most of the responsibility for household chores, looking after children and looking after elderly parents.
This often affects the types of jobs they can access and their choices in terms of having children.
The traditional family values are reflected less and less in contemporary Spanish life. There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of couples choosing to marry in the Catholic church. And while the large majority of Spanish couples are married, there is a growing trend to cohabit until later.
Divorce, which was legalised shortly after Franco’s death, has been made increasingly less cumbersome for Spanish couples, and the divorce rate rose rapidly after it was introduced.
Spain’s economic context in terms of family
Unemployment among young people is one of the highest in Europe. For those able to find work, many jobs have only a temporary contract and salaries are low.
All this means that many Spanish young people do not leave their parents’ home until much later than many other European countries.
This has a knock-on effect in terms of how old Spanish people are when they get married and have children. And as a result of starting family life much later, couples have fewer children now than almost anywhere in the world.
For more information and up-to-date statistics on changes in the family in Spain, check out our PowerPoint Presentation on Cambios en la familia en España.