Redefining the dynamics of intergenerational family solidarity in spain

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the dynamics of family solidarity in Spain. The existing literature so far has defined the Spanish caring model as familistic due to the primacy of the family in the protection of dependants. However, this article shows that recent data on Spaniards' preferences concerning the care of their family dependents might question the sustainability of the bases of such model. This is consistent with the results of the OASIS Project, according to which societal changes may be leading to family care becoming less duty-driven and more dependent on personal affection and attachment. ¹

1. The five-country (Norway, England, Germany, Spain and Israel) OASIS study collected data from representative, age-stratified, urban-community samples of about 1200 respondents in each country.

The Spanish welfare state is labelled as familistic because family makes up for the lack of public benefits dampening adverse economic cycles and the problems of its more fragile members: children, young people and, especially, the elderly. Family solidarity is considered beneficial because it contains public spending and generates positive effects of solidarity and security in the population. Moreover, the expectations of the dependent elderly are focused on family, not on social services that always have been scarce in Spain and they are worsening with the economic crisis. But the Spanish welfare state based on familist values appears to be increasingly ineffective and more difficult to sustain. This article explains how changes in family structure and dynamics, along with the high rates of female labour force that Spain has recently achieved, affect family caregiving preferences and strategies.

Key words:

• Spanish welfare state
• dependency care
• familist values
• intergenerational solidarity

Acknowledgments

This article was drafted within the SOLFCARE project (“Solidaridad familiar, cambio actitudinal y reforma del Estado de bienestar en España: el familismo en transición”), under the Plan Nacional de I+D+i of the Spanish Government (CSO2011-27494).

Notes

1. The five-country (Norway, England, Germany, Spain and Israel) OASIS study collected data from representative, age-stratified, urban-community samples of about 1200 respondents in each country.

2. We thank Marga Mari-Klose for her help and comments on the multivariate statistical analysis.

3. Coverage rates of social services for dependent elderly (home care services and nursing, among others) do not reach even 5% of people over 65 (Tobío et al. 2010).

4. In the recent electoral campaign that led to the victory of the new PP government, this political party openly acknowledged that some social programs for the dependents would have to be suspended until the economic situation improves.

5. The Spanish female activity rate today is close to that of countries like France or Germany with conservative welfare regimes. And if we consider that the percentage of women working part time in Spain (23%) is much lower than that of women working part time in France (30%) and Germany (45%), we could think that the level of incorporation of Spanish women into the labor market is even higher than in those countries. The same thing happens in Britain with a model of liberal welfare state based primarily on the labor market. UK has a female activity rate of 70% which is five percentage points higher than Spain, but 42.5% of women working part time, while in Spain it's only 23%. Only Scandinavian countries with a welfare state model which makes special emphasis on sharing family responsibilities, have employment rates above the Spanish.

6. The evidence of this weakness was acknowledged by the out coming socialist government, and used as the main argument for the approval of the 2006 dependency low. Despite the social and political expectations put on this low, its implementation was initially jeopardized by the scarce resources allocated to it, and afterwards by the economic crisis.

7. Bazo and Ancizu (2004) use in-depth interviews conducted in Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel and Spain during the OASIS Project to explain the interactions service-person-family that occur in countries with different welfare state models and policies to support families. Their study finds that the possibility of access to social services determines different patterns of interaction and caring relationships between dependent parents and their children.

8. In villages, familiarity with social services is even lower than in cities. The scarcity of formal resources, both public and private, in municipalities under 50,000 inhabitants forces families to take care of their dependents even more than what families of large and medium cities have to assume (Sarasa 2007).

9. Pensions and other transfers make up the bulk of expenditure, and, theoretically, beneficiaries can buy the services they need in the market but this possibility is realistically limited to a minority and thus reinforces inequalities (Sarasa and Mestres 2007).

10. The data for this multivariate analysis are from CIS Study 2844: Barometer of September 2010. A representative sample of 2473 Spanish people stratified by gender, age, autonomous regions and municipality size were interviewed in their homes about family values.

11. The Generational Contract Modification and Home Care Policy Project (COGEASDO) were founded under the National Plan of R +D of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. Spaniards from two different generations were interviewed in order to see whether there have been changes in the generational contract within the family. The first generational group interviewed consists on people over 65 years. Women from this generation have been educated as homemakers and have cared for their parents. The second group interviewed consists on people from 30 to 50 years old. Unlike their parents, usually the two partners are active in the labor market. We want to find out whether they would be willing to care for their parents if necessary. Both groups were stratified by gender and social class (depending on household income and profession).

12. A 68 year-old man, who is an engineer and worked in textile companies and automotive, interviewed on 19 May 2006 at his home in Barcelona.

13. A 69 years old woman, who has worked all her life in a delicatessen, interviewed on 18 March 2006 at her home in Puigcerdá (Lerida).

14. A 39 years old woman married with two children. She studied psychology and is a college professor. Her parents are alive, in good health and self-sufficient. They got divorced many years ago. Interview on Saturday 25 March 2006 at 5 pm at her home in Terrassa (Barcelona).

15. A 43 years old woman with three children. She is an entrepreneur, running a family business. She has people hired during the day. Somebody takes care of her mother and before somebody took care of her aunt. Interviewed on 11 July 2006 at her home in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jordi Caïs

Jordi Caïs, Senior Reader (Tenured) at the Department of Sociology at the University of Barcelona. He is BA in Economics at the University of Barcelona, MSc in European Social Policy at The London School of Economics and Political Science and PhD in Sociology at the University of Barcelona. He did his PhD between the University of Barcelona and the University of California, San Diego thanks to a Fullbright fellowship. His main areas of interest are comparative methodology and comparative social policy in the European Region with a special focus on health, ageing and intergenerational relations. He has published in several journals and is author and co-author of seven books. E-mail: [email protected]

Laia Folguera

Laia Folguera, Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Sociology at the University of Barcelona (UB). She is PhD candidate at the UB and has specialized in qualitative research techniques, gender and masculinities. She has been visiting student at the University of California, Berkeley; at the University of Essex; at the London School of Economics, and at Harvard University. She is the convenor of the Working Groups of Sociology of Sexuality in the Congresses of the Spanish Federation of Sociology. E-mail: [email protected]