Spain

The situation for mothers in Spain is a blend of traditional and progressive trends and policies. In 2007, Save the Children included Spain in the top 10 places to be a mother and a child (9th in the Mothers' Index rankings among the 41 more developed countries). Like other European Union (EU) countries, Spain has low fertility and infant mortality; the total fertility rate is 1.3 in 2009, and infant mortality is 4.21 per 1,000 live births. About 67 percent of women use modern contraception, and female life expectancy is 84 years (76 for men). Health care is tax based and in 1997, 99.8 percent of the population was covered. The educational status of women is also high, with an average 17 years of formal education expected.

This picture is countered by a lack of state-sponsored family support policies. In 2002, the average EU expenditure on family support policies was 2.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared with Spain's investment of just 0.5 percent. Spain is also one of few countries with no programs specifically aimed at supporting single-parent families. While family diversity is increasing, the traditional family structure dominates. The divorce rate and number of single-parent households are low compared with most EU countries. Married women, particularly those with children, have low rates of employment. Marriage has been on the decline, but unlike in other EU countries, Spain does not have a high rate of consensual unions. Only a very small percentage of women have lived with someone whom they did not marry, and Spain has one of the lowest EU incidences of births to single mothers.

The lack of family support policies is a legacy from an earlier period in Spain's history. From 1938 until 1977, under the dictatorship of General Francisco [Page 1152]Franco, family policy in Spain emphasized women's presumed natural responsibility for child rearing and dependent care. Policy promoted the traditional family and was pronatalist, with prizes for large families, presented by Franco personally.

A mother and her child enjoy the day in the Plaza de España, Seville, Spain. The country has a low fertility rate of 1.3 (2009).

The democratic Constitutional Law, established in 1978 after Franco's death, granted equality to spouses and eliminated women's legal subordination to men. Children born out of wedlock were given legal rights equivalent to those of children born in wedlock, and parental authority was extended to both parents. The first democratic government lifted bans on selling contraceptive devices and abolished the prizes for large families. However, it left other policies, such as tax relief and child subsidies, largely unchanged.