The economic and social reality of large families in Spain is clear. They find it difficult to cover all the necessary expenses in a home with several children, and they manage to do so by reducing the budget, controlling spending, or resorting to extra resources.
This is one of the main conclusions of the Study on Large Families in Spain, prepared by the Spanish Federation of Large Families based on 2,000 surveys, which once again confirms that the economic issue is the main difficulty for large families in their daily lives.
According to the study, only 1 in 4 families (24%) lives without financial stress, “without difficulties”, while the rest, 75%, that is, 3 out of 4 families, clearly state that they have difficulty making ends meet. Of these families with a narrow margin between income and expenses, 32% “have difficulties”; 26% say they have had to “reduce their family budget”; 12% have been forced to use savings or take out a loan, and 4% have been able to meet their needs thanks to the help of a relative or some social assistance (social services, NGOs, etc.). As for savings, only 1% of families say they have been able to save more than before.
The study is carried out every year with the support of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption, and Agenda 2030 and analyses various economic and social issues of large families to deepen knowledge of this group, understand their main needs, and assess and access family policies.
Juggling the budget
In economic terms, the survey collects information on the income of these families, providing data that allow us to understand the juggling act that the vast majority of families with more children have to do to make ends meet. The majority of families by income have between 2,500 and 3,500 euros, which is 24% of families, that is, 1 in 4. The rest are divided into different economic realities: 11% have an income of 3,500 to 4,000 and another 14% have 4,000 to 5,000 euros per month, while, at the other extreme, 14% have between 2,000 and 2,500 euros and 18% of large families live on less than 2,000 euros per month.
“We are seeing that a third of large families earn less than 2,500 euros a month, an amount that is clearly insufficient to meet the needs of a typical household of 5 members. With these figures, it is normal that they barely make ends meet and have to cut back – highlights the president of the FEFN, José Manuel Trigo – because these are households that on average have 3 children, minors and therefore dependent, who generate significant expenses and in some matters, such as food, housing or education, unavoidable .”
Given their tight finances, families are trying to cut back and control spending in different ways, according to the survey. Thus, this year, given the winter season, 60% of large families are clear that they will limit the use of heating, turning it on for fewer hours or at a lower temperature, to avoid the bill skyrocketing.
Higher expenses and delays in receipts
According to these families, the shopping basket (95%), rent or mortgage (65%), and children’s education (54%) are the items that take up the largest part of the family budget. After shopping, the house and schools, these households spend on the car (27%) with everything associated with it (petrol, insurance, maintenance) and household supplies (26%): electricity, water or gas.
According to the study, electricity bills or other utilities have been a problem for some families, specifically 15% who have found themselves in the situation of not being able to pay a bill at a certain time. Although a third of these families (32%) say they have resolved the non-payment, 43% have been late paying between 1 and 3 months, and 11% have needed up to 6 months to catch up and settle the debt.
Access and assessment of family benefits
Regarding family access to different social and family benefits, the study highlights the great lack of knowledge about some of the existing aid and the limited access due to income limits that, according to the FEFN, are not adapted to the reality of large families: ” They do not take into account family composition, only to a limited extent, and are set at thresholds that many families exceed, despite having medium or low incomes, as the study shows ,” explains the president of the Federation.
A clear example is the supplement for child support, which has been denied to 10% of the families surveyed and which 27 % of families have not applied for due to exceeding the income limit since it is calculated by counting only up to the third child, without recording an increase from the 4th, 5th… and setting a higher income limit in that case. Also striking concerning this aid is the lack of information from families: 60% say they were unaware of its existence.
Among the aids most valued by families (67%), the universal benefit for dependent children stands out, which would mean giving 100 or 200 euros per month per child until the age of 18, as is the case in most European countries. The measure, which the Government already has on its agenda, as announced by Minister Pablo Bustinduy, is a historic demand of the FEFN, which maintains that it contributes to giving the same opportunities to all boys and girls, regardless of the economic situation of the family into which they are born.