One in three women who give birth in Spain are not entitled to any assistance for childbirth or childbirth. At least that’s what Ninth Maternity Map Report Implemented by the Redmadre Foundation, which analyzes the aid it has provided … In 2024, all Spanish public administrations (CCAA, provincial capital councils and city councils) will support maternity, with special attention to supporting mothers in difficult situations due to pregnancy.
According to the study In 2024, aid amounted to 101,383,784 euros. Which amounted to 237.85 euros on average per pregnant woman. Madrid and Galicia focus aid as they have separate maternity support schemes from pregnancy onwards. Between them, they allocated an amount of 96,583,587 euros in aid. This means that the bulk of public administrations as a whole allocated 4,800,197 to support pregnant women, That is 21.11 euros per year per woman To deal with the needs and difficulties imposed by pregnancy; While 37,967,850 euros were spent on funding abortions.
Last year, the number of CCAAs providing support to pregnant women increased from 11 to 13. Regional metropolitan councils supporting this group also increased from 10 to 14 (out of 50) and councils providing some assistance to pregnant women decreased from 7 to 5 (out of 42 listings). It also highlights that in Spain only they have the right to assist in the birth and care of a minor. Those women who are working or receiving unemployment benefits, So that one in three women who give birth are not entitled to any support because they never had an employment contract.
The document also outlines the few policies to support community needs. Among the reasons Spaniards claim for not having children are lack of financial capabilities (77.3%) and difficulties in having children. Reconciliation between work and family life (44.2%) and does not hinder professional life (26.5%). Moreover, 31.9% of single-parent families headed by women suffer from in-work poverty in addition to a high risk of social exclusion, which is called Feminization of poverty. It is these women who have less access to employment, sole responsibility for care, and are still affected by the wage gap.
amaya Azcona, The Director-General of the Redmadri Foundation tells the ABC that one of the aspects she considers most urgent in bridging the gap between political discourse about women and the ultimate support they receive is precisely “the forgetting of the possibility of motherhood in political discourse.” It explains that women can become pregnant, and this circumstance represents, in some cases, inequality with men, inequality at the level of education, in obtaining a job or in maintaining the same working conditions. We consider it urgent to analyze the circumstances surrounding women during pregnancy and early childhood, and to develop policies that eliminate the inequalities that may arise.”
How do you assess that of the more than 101 million people scheduled to become a mother in 2024, more than 95% of them will come from Madrid and Galicia alone?
On the one hand, we congratulate Madrid and Galicia for taking into account the needs of pregnant women with these support plans, and on the other hand, we call on the rest of the autonomous regions to implement policies in the same sense. Since our founding, we have been offering meetings with independent communities who want to delve deeper into these topics.
What are the consequences for women that the rest of the departments allocated only 4.8 million to support them during pregnancy?
The main consequence is the abandonment of pregnant women and women giving birth. Pregnant women who face difficulties do not have equality when it comes to decision-making, as they only receive support for abortion, which is funded by the state; If they decide to continue moving forward, they will be left alone and abandoned without public support.
More than 100,000 women who give birth each year without being entitled to maternity benefits because they are not contributors suffer from institutional abandonment that leads them to extremely serious situations of social exclusion. We cannot ignore the fact that more than 100,000 children are born and abandoned as well. Given these numbers, it is understandable that Spain has one of the highest rates of child poverty in Europe.
What does the assistance of €21.11 per year per pregnant woman allocated by most administrations mean? What need can this amount cover?
This number is symbolic and does not cover any need.
What can a pregnant woman do with 21 euros? Buy a bag of diapers?
What model of benefits system would be necessary to ensure comprehensive support during pregnancy, regardless of employment status?
In one study, the Economic and Social Council proposed several specific and highly effective measures: first, comprehensive support for parents, whereby the current system is reviewed and simplified, adapting the amounts and duration of benefits on the basis of emergency situations that may occur during pregnancy, childbirth or during development; Secondly, establishing a support mechanism against poverty risks of a specific nature, and finally, ensuring access to adequate housing for families with children, giving priority to families at risk of vulnerability.
To what extent do factors such as lack of financial resources, work-life balance or fear of damaging one’s career affect motherhood in Spain?
These three factors greatly affect motherhood. 77.3% of participants in the Fertility and Childhood Survey reported that the reason they did not have children was lack of economic capabilities. 44.2% answered that they did not obtain it due to work-life balance problems, and 26.5% answered that it did not hinder their career. Among all these data, we cannot ignore the most important one, which is that having children affects the mother more than the father in terms of job opportunities.
Of the proposals in the report, which is the most urgent that should be implemented to improve birth rates and protect mothers?
We have included in the report a proposal from the Commonwealth of Independent States calling on us to develop, without delay, a comprehensive plan that includes a set of measures that overcome the main barriers that families face when they decide to have children, such as: direct economic incentives, improved work-life balance, improved access to housing, decent wages, affordable access to a public childcare network, promoting gender equality and shared responsibility for the family, inclusive immigration policies and the creation of family-friendly environments, among others.
What message would you like to convey to policy makers who have not yet incorporated these recommendations into their maternity support policies?
Our message is that they view motherhood as a social good and not just a personal good; Families welcome future citizens, and the state is obligated to remove the obstacles that citizens face when exercising their basic rights. Furthermore, Spain is a social state, and this constitutional definition means that public authorities are obliged to intervene to promote social justice and reduce inequality. Therefore, if motherhood can be a cause of inequality, and there is also a large number of women who give birth without any coverage and expose thousands of children to the risk of poverty, it is the duty of political leaders to prepare a maternity support law that promotes concrete measures and adequate spending lines to avoid situations of vulnerabilities related to motherhood.