Unions make proposals on support for women and families

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In February and March 2003, Spanish trade unions made a number of calls for measures to improve the position of women and improve family policies. The CC.OO and UGT confederations drew up a joint manifesto for International Women's Day, while CC.OO issued a set of demands on support for families and the reconciliation of work and family life.

The two main Spanish trade union confederations - the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT) and the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) - drew up a joint manifesto for International Women's Day on 8 March 2003. Their main proposals and claims were:

• an increase in the amount and quality of employment for women;
• the elimination of gender pay discrimination;
• the extension and improvement of childcare and care for dependent persons, to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life;
• a balanced presence of women and men in economic, political and social decision-making; and
• the adoption of measures aimed at eradicating violence against women.

It should be noted that he intersectoral agreement signed in January 2003 setting a framework for collective bargaining in 2003 (ES0302204F) contains a number of provisions to promote equal opportunities and help to eliminate gender discrimination.

Family policy demands

In February 2003, CC.OO also drew up a longer document on family policy containing proposals aimed at influencing forthcoming regional and municipal elections. CC.OO claimed that the government's 'integrated family support plans' (Planes Integrales de Apoyo a las Familias) (ES9911165F) are insufficient because their only framework of reference is the family and their only aim is to improve the birth rate and counteract the ageing of the population. They lack coherence, indicators, funding and a clear commitment to introduce them. CC.OO feels that the plans need to be renegotiated and improved at a national level and in the regions, where there are similar plans and programmes.

Adopting a wider view of the family, CC.OO considers that the major problem is the lack of secure employment (ES0109201F), and that priority should be given to improving public care services for children under three years of age and social and health services for disabled, elderly or dependent people, the burden of whose care is currently borne largely by women. Recent economic and fiscal measures in this area only influence demand, without modifying the supply of social services.

The union confederation feels that the active policies should take precedence with regard to employment, housing, social services, care services for dependent peoples, fostering the reconciliation of work and family life, increasing the number of places in public nurseries, adequate universal benefits and effective policies for social inclusion of both Spanish nationals and immigrants. CC.OO's key proposals are set out below.

1. Measures to assist in reconciling work and family life, including
   • the establishment of paternity leave;
   • improved conditions of access to maternity benefit;
   • improved access to social protection;
   • shorter and more flexible working time for family reasons;
   • longer and more flexible paid leave;
   • more flexible use of leave for maternity, paternity, adoption or fostering;
   • better protection against abusive or discriminatory action by employers; and
   • better protection against workplace risks during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
2. Measures to guarantee the right to education, notably:
   • a sufficient number of public places in childcare centres and nurseries for children up to the age of three years;
   • guaranteed universal access to education for children aged three to six years;
   • making school time compatible with working time; and
   • the introduction of subsidies for buying text books and school materials.
3. Measures on housing policy (ES0302106F), including:
   • access to rented accommodation to be facilitated through subsidies awarded according to age, family income and number of children;
   • more officially protected housing for disadvantaged families;
   • adapting the construction of dwellings to families; and
   • programmes of access to rented housing for women who are victims of domestic violence.
4. Improved care for dependent people through an increase in residential places, public daycare places, day centres, home care, managed housing etc.
5. Improved benefits for children and dependent minors.
6. Guaranteeing the social inclusion of families in a situation of social exclusion.
7. Preventive health programmes.
8. Family guidance and mediation services.
9. Reform of the legislation on family issues, including funds to compensate for non-payment of alimony, improved adoption rights and common-law marriage rights for couples of different or the same gender
10. Support for immigrant families.
11. Participation in and monitoring of family policies.

Social protection and childcare expenditure

The background to the trade union's concerns is that in recent years there has been a decrease in the funds devoted by the Spanish state to social policies, in terms of the proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This seems to be the general trend for most areas of social expenditure (though spending on measures to combat social exclusion and on child subsidies is stable), with overall expenditure falling by over two percentage points of GDP between 1995 and 2001 - see table 1 below. Expenditure on family and child benefits increased slightly over the period.

Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MTAS) yearbook of labour and social affairs statistics (Anuario de Estadísticas laborales y de Asuntos sociales). Note: figures follow European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS) methodology.

Spain's per capita expenditure on social protection is the lowest of any EU Member State - see the figure below.

Total annual social protection expenditure per inhabitant in the EU, in EUR 1,000.

Source: drawn up by the author from MTAS yearbook of labour and social affairs statistics. Note: figures follow ESSPROS methodology.

Spain's birth rate is among the lowest in the world, with an average of 1.2 children per woman in 2001, down from 2.8 children in 1975, according to the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE). It is thought that employment problems (particularly job security), rigid working hours and low pay help to keep the birth rate low, along with a lack of childcare facilities, which contributes to difficulties in reconciling work and family life (ES0211201N). On this last point, table 2 below indicates the number of childcare service providers and the number of places for children in these services.

Source: MTAS yearbook of labour and social affairs statistics. Note: figures do not include Navarre or Basque Country.

The level of childcare provision is clearly very low, and while it is rising, the increase is insignificant, given the magnitude of the shortfall. However, the regions (autonomous communities) now have major competences in this field and are playing an increasing role. Table 3 below show total public subsidies for childcare and the division of funding between the central state and the regions

Source: MTAS yearbook of labour and social affairs statistics. Note: figures do not include Navarre or Basque Country.

Commentary

Spanish society has traditionally seen the burden of social cohesion placed on the family. This situation has affected the personal and employment opportunities of women, who take the main responsibility for supporting families in Spain. Due to the late construction of social welfare and integration policies and their subsequent early decline in comparison with other EU countries, the family is changing, with families becoming fragmented among the general population, and growing in size among the less advantaged social groups (such as immigrants and poor families). Social support policies for the family are weak, and have not been coherently integrated with public social policies.

Family support policies have a direct influence on the size and nature of the labour force, the reconciliation of work and family life and - particularly in Spain - the involvement of women in all areas including paid employment. It therefore seems that the state should play a decisive role in establishing regulations that favour family models conducive to social cohesion and a balanced development of employment. This is far from having been achieved in Spain. (Daniel Albarracín, CIREM Foundation)