The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
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doi:10.5477/cis/reis.174.3
The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain:
Between Ideology and Pragmatism
El descubrimiento de las políticas familiares en España:
entre la ideología y el pragmatismo
Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez
Key words Abstract
Content Analysis Despite the apparent familism of Spanish society, family policies have
• Work-Life Balance never occupied an important place in the political sphere. However,
• Welfare State various issues related to family policy have started to appear in
• Family the agenda of Spanish political parties in recent years. This paper
• Political Parties analyses family-related issues in the electoral programmes of the
• Public Policies five national parties that stood for election on 28 April, 2019, namely,
• Family Partido Socialista Obrero Español, Partido Popular, Ciudadanos,
Transformation Unidas-Podemos, and VOX. A qualitative methodology was used that
combined both content and discourse analysis. The results point to
important ideological differences between these political parties based
on their different conceptualisation of the family, but also to significant
similarities on various issues related to “family pragmatics”.
Palabras clave Resumen
Análisis de contenido A pesar del aparente familiarismo de la sociedad española, las políticas
• Conciliación familiares nunca han ocupado un lugar relevante en el ámbito político.
• Estado de bienestar Sin embargo, en los últimos años diversos temas relacionados con la
• Familia política familiar han ido entrando en la agenda de los partidos políticos
• Partidos políticos españoles. En este trabajo se analizan las cuestiones relacionadas con
• Políticas públicas la familia de los programas electorales de los cinco partidos nacionales
• Transformación que han concurrido a las elecciones del pasado 28 de abril de 2019
familiar (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, Partido Popular, Ciudadanos,
Unidas Podemos y VOX). Se utiliza una metodología cualitativa que
combina el análisis de contenido y de discurso. Los resultados señalan
las importantes diferencias ideológicas existentes en los partidos en
función de su propia conceptualización de la familia, pero también las
significativas semejanzas en diferentes cuestiones relacionadas con la
«pragmática familiar».
Citation
Ayuso Sánchez, Luis and Bascón Jiménez, Milagrosa (2021). “The Discovery of Family Policies in
Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism”. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 174:
3-22. (http://dx.doi.org/10.5477/cis/reis.174.3)
Luis Ayuso Sánchez: Universidad de Málaga | luis.ayuso@uma.es
Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez: Universidad de Córdoba | mbascon@uco.es
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-224 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
Introduction1 related to women, youth, unemployment and
the elderly; but they have also appeared in
In 1977 Professor María Ángeles Durán car- some cases as a specific section within social
ried out an interesting study on the family-re- policies. This study analyses the electoral pro-
lated content in the electoral programmes of grammes of the five main political parties that
the main parties in the first democratic elec- stood in the election held on 28 April, 2019.
tion after the end of the Franco regime (Du-
rán, 1977). Her results reflected how family Some key points
issues were strongly influenced by political
to understanding family policy
ideology and occupied a secondary place in
the public sphere. It must be remembered in Spain
that the family was one of the main ideologi-
cal pillars in Franco’s regime (“family, mu- While family is highly valued in Spanish so-
nicipality and trade union”), although it was ciety, regardless of political ideology, religion,
used more as an exercise in propaganda education level or place of residence (Ayuso,
than in real terms (Iglesias de Ussel and Meil, 2020), there has been no political or acade-
2001). After a long journey during the 1980s mic debate in Spain related to family policy
in which the word “family” disappeared from (Flaquer, 2012). In fact, there is no consensus
the parliamentary records (Iglesias de Ussel, on what the very concept of “family policy”
1998), family policies returned to the public is. Some authors have understood it to be
agenda in the mid-1990s, mainly under the related to welfare and have emphasised the
auspices of various individual autonomous rights of its different members (Alberdi, 1999),
regions (Flaquer, 2000; Castón et al., 2002). whereas others see it more from a community
perspective, stressing its relational charac-
The presence of the family as an issue in
ter (Donati, 2003). There are even those who
the political arena has been gradually intro-
seek consensus by using a more general de-
duced into the social policy agenda through
finition, such as “any type of public measu-
different measures that have had a clear im-
res aimed at adopting resources for people
pact on the family sphere. This relationship
with family responsibilities” (Flaquer, 2000:
between policies and family were sometimes
11). According to the classification devised by
indirect and not always explicitly recognised
Commaille, Strobel y Villac, (2002), Spain is in
(Moreno and Salido, 2007); its presence was
the invisible or absent family policy category.
largely intended to have a more symbolic
than real impact on the public sphere (Ig-
lesias de Ussel and Mari-Klose, 2008). At The long transition of family policy in Spain
present, family-related measures are featured
more and more explicitly in the electoral pro- The non-existence of an explicit family policy
grammes of the main national political par- can only be understood by taking into account
ties. These measures have not only been pre- at least three fundamental factors that have
sented cross-sectionally across the areas marked Spanish history and current situation.
First, the use the family by political parties
1
based on how they were ideologically instru-
This study is part of the results of research project
coded CSO2017-86349-P, funded by the Spanish Mi- mentalised during the Franco regime (Campo,
nistry of Science, Innovation and Universities. 1995); secondly, the specific shaping of the
We would like to thank professors Félix Requena and relationship between family and welfare state
Verónica de Miguel from the University of Malaga, for in Spain, consistent with the characteristics of
their support in preparing this paper. We are also grate-
ful for the reviewers’ comments. However, we take full the Mediterranean countries (Flaquer, 2004);
responsibility for any errors or omissions. and thirdly, the lack of demands from organ-
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez 5
ised civil society, either from associations and The proclamation of 1994 as the Inter-
social movements, or from trade unions or national Year of the Family and the fact that
other political actors (Ayuso, 2009). Spain had the lowest fertility figures in its
Parsons’ nuclear family model, typical of recent history (1.18 children per woman
modern industrial society, which began to ap- in 1998) led to a small rise in family poli-
pear in advanced societies in the early twen- cies (Comas, 2012). The Popular Party (PP)
tieth century and declined in the late fifties government (1996-2004) promoted meas-
(Coontz, 2005), was promoted and protected ures such as the first law on the family and
in Spain at the end of the civil war. Fran- work life balance, the Large Families Act,
co’s regime developed an ideology around and the first Comprehensive Family Support
this model that protected the traditional fam- Plan in 2001. This trend was continued by
ily and religious values. From the early stage the PSOE (2004-2011), with initiatives such
of the Francoist dictatorship until the 1960s, as the regulation of same-sex marriage,
Spain implemented an explicit family policy greater flexibility in divorce, the Equality Act,
around the so-called “family allowance”. De- the Dependency Act, and the Law against
spite its multiple shortfalls due to the coun- Gender Violence. The last stage of the PP
try’s economic situation, it placed family at in government (2011-2018) was character-
the centre of social policy (Meil, 1995; Iglesias ised by the fight against gender violence
and Meil, 2001). However, unlike in other Eu- and the implementation of a new Compre-
ropean countries, the developmentalism of hensive Family Support Plan 2015-2017, to
the 1960s, (Ayuso, 2007) resulted in the role which insufficient resources were allocated
of the family gradually becoming secondary in (as had been the case with the 2001 plan),
social policies, leaving it confined to ideologi- and depended on the impetus given to it by
cal pleas and rewards given to large families, the autonomous regions (Comas d’Argemir,
which served propagandistic aims rather than Marre and San Román, 2016).
having any real effect (Meil, 2006). All these policy measures have had a
This historical situation led family as an positive social impact, but in general they
institution and everything related to fam- have not served to structure a genuine fam-
ily policies to be automatically associated ily social policy similar to that of Central Eu-
with conservative policies (Valiente, 1996; ropean countries. The reasons for this must
Flaquer, 2012), which were strongly re- also be sought in the characteristics of the
jected by left-wing parties. Spanish welfare system within the so-called
Mediterranean regimes (Naldini, 2003). This
The forces of the left did not consider it appro-
model is articulated around structural and
priate to promote family-supporting policies, as
cultural characteristics. Structural charac-
this was identified with the traditional model that
teristics notable include the protection of a
the Franco regime had praised so much, which
traditional model based on the male bread-
they believed contributed to the oppression of
winner; a labour market that is protective of
women (Subirats, 1998: 93).
men to the detriment of women and young
This ideological bias was maintained dur- people; a “multifunctional” family supported
ing the 1980s and 1990s, where legislative by dense and intense family solidarity and
measures were mainly linked to individual family support networks (Requena, 2011;
rights, welfare, and gender equality (Alberdi, Meil, 2011), which revolves around the
1999; Valiente, 2013) (Table 1). Family began housewife’s informal work (Durán, 2019);
to slowly enter the public agenda in the late family patterns and behaviours repeated
1990s, especially with the first family-sup- from generation to generation without much
porting plans introduced in some autono- thought being given to them (Ferrara, 1996;
mous regions (Castón et al., 2002). Flaquer, 2004; Moreno Mínguez, 2015).
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-226 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
TABLE 1. M
ain family-related policy measures implemented by the different Spanish governments since the
transition to democracy in Spain (1978-2018)
Government Measure Characteristics
Law 45/1978, amending Articles 416 and Deregulation of contraceptive use.
343 of the Criminal Code.
UCD Law 8/1980 of the Workers’ Statute. Recognition of the right to a leave of absence and
1978-1981 reduced working hours for childcare.
Law 30/1981, amending the regulation of Authorisation of separation and divorce.
marriage in the Civil Code.
Organic Law 9/1985 of 5 July, reforming Ar- Decriminalisation of abortion in three sets of cir-
ticle 417 of Criminal Code. cumstances.
PSOE
1982-1995 Law 35/1988 of 22 November, on assisted Applicable regulations and approval for separation
human reproduction techniques. and divorce assisted reproduction techniques.
Comprehensive Family Support Plan (1997). Implementation of European directives on safety,
health, breastfeeding, parental leave.
Law 40/1998, on Personal income tax and Deductions and tax benefits were established for
other tax rules. each dependent child.
PP Law 39/1999, to promote the balance of fa- Regulation of leaves of absence for multiple births,
1996-2003 mily and work life. family care and breastfeeding; layoffs, etc.
Law 46/2002, of 18 December, on the par- A measure known as “working mothers pay” was
tial reform of personal income tax. established.
Law 40/2003, of 18 November, on the Pro- The concept of large family was redefined.
tection of Large Families.
Organic Law 1/2004, on Comprehensive Pro- Regulation of measures on violence against women.
tection Measures against Gender Violence.
Law 13/2005 amended the right to marry Same-sex marriage was recognised.
under the Civil Code.
Law 14/2006, on assisted human reproduc- Law 45/2003 was amended; wide range of opportuni-
tion techniques. ties for assisted reproduction; concepts were defined.
PSOE
Law 39/2006, of 14 December, on the Pro- Regulation of dependency situations for carrying out
2004-2011
motion of Personal Autonomy and Care for activities of daily living.
Dependent People.
Organic Law 3/2007, of 22 March, for the Regulation of paternity leave.
effective equality of women and men.
Organic Law 2/2010, reproductive health Free abortion up to 14 weeks of gestation was
voluntary termination of pregnancy. allowed (“time limit Law”).
Pact for Gender Equality (2011-2020). Protection of victims of violence against women.
Promoting co-responsibility, etc.
PP Comprehensive family support plan Established measures to support fertility, ageing
2011-2018 (2015-2017). and demographic challenge.
Law 48/2015, on General State Budgets for Provided equal terms for paternity leave as for ma-
the year 2016. ternity leave.
Source: Developed by the authors.
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez 7
The social expectations on the family Why are political parties now interested
from a cultural point of view must also be in family issues?
taken into account. As Del Pino and Rubio
While family issues continue to be regarded
(2016: 246) recalled,
as a minor item on the public agenda,
[...] families are organised not only in terms of po- there has recently been a small awaken-
licies or measures, but fundamentally in terms of ing caused by new electoral dynamics that
expectations, norms and values about what a fa- have existed since 2015. The strong change
mily is or is not, and the role that each member in family values that took place in Spain
voluntarily or involuntarily plays within it. in a very few years must be taken into ac-
count to understand this new context. This
In the common, collective ideology, fami- change has run parallel with the democrati-
lies are still strongly present as providers of sation process, and that has brought Spain
social services. Some 69% of Spaniards be- closer to Sweden than to Italy in some fami-
lieve that it should be the family who should ly-related aspects (Ayuso, 2020).
take care of the care needs of the elderly, and In addition, the emergence of a greater
59% think that it is the family rather than so- number of unmet family needs has had a high
cial services that should be used when a per- impact on public opinion. The so-called de-
son cannot fend for themselves (Ayuso, 2019). mographic challenge is of special importance
and has aroused intense debate in Demogra-
A characteristic of southern European
phy (Macarrón, 2011; Esteve, 2016). It involves
countries is the understanding the fam-
issues directly related to the family such as
ily as something private, where the fam- birth, work and family balance, and ageing.
ily members themselves have sole respon- In Spain, family continues to be significantly
sibility for it; therefore, it is not something linked to quality of life, which is an important
that mobilises citizens to demand public point in propaganda terms for all political par-
improvements in this area. This is the third ties. Ayuso (2019) suggested three pointers to
fundamental element in understanding the a greater revitalisation of family policies:
absence of family policy in Spain. Despite a) First, the very process involving the fa-
the importance of the religious movements mily becoming postmodern (Meil, 1999)
of civil society in the transition to democ- has caused new needs to emerge that
racy (Requena, 2019), the Spanish Catho- demand greater attention (Flaquer,
lic Church has not had to “compete” with 2003), including family policies aimed
other churches (as in other central Euro- at single-parent families headed by
pean countries), a fact that has caused both women (Madruga, 2006) and men
them to develop strong movements around (Avilés, 2015), unmarried partnerships
the family (Ayuso, 2007). The historical and (Ezquerra and Lázaro, 2007), and poli-
cultural presence of the principle of sub- cies for work and family balance (Puerta,
2013). In addition, there are family-rela-
sidiarity inherent in Catholicism, whereby
ted aspects where the family plays a key
it is households that should take respon-
role, such as in gender violence (Miguel,
sibility for providing welfare for their mem-
2015); the problems arising from ageing
bers (Flaquer, 2000: 38), has also hindered (dependence and loneliness); the use
mobilisation in this regard. Paradoxically, it of parental leave (Meil, Romero-Balsas
is this perception of the family and its high and Rogero-García, 2018); shared cu-
value that has caused the lack of demands stody (Solsona et al., 2020); family me-
for explicit family policies (Ayuso, 2009). diation; demands for emancipation and
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-228 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
housing; and the recurring debate over ing point. Criticisms from feminism (Lewis,
work schedules. A good example of this 1997), and from Mediterranean countries
interest is the recent creation of two na- (Ferrera, 1996; Moreno, 2001; Naldini,
tional High Commissioners, one for the 2003), including the relational perspec-
demographic challenge (2017) and one tive (Donati and Prandini, 2007), have been
against child poverty (2018). taken into account. Based on these con-
b) Second, the greater sensitivity of the mar- tributions, a theoretical proposal has been
ket to family and private life projects. De- constructed specifically for the analysis of
spite the economic crisis, the culture of the data in this study, based on four ideal
work and family balance is starting to ap- types of family policy models (Table 2).
pear in the agenda of large companies, — The welfare-based model has a broad
especially in the most innovative, knowl- concept of what the family is, where the
edge-based ones. This is not for altruis- individual and gender rights of individu-
tic reasons, but mainly for the benefits it als take precedence over group rights. It
brings (Meil et al., 2007), as the attraction follows the ideological principles of so-
and retention of talent are becoming struc- cial democracy and feminism, promot-
tural aspects in a more feminised labour ing the development of a wide network
market, where the best compete for not of homogeneous public family services
just economic incentives. Family balance for all citizens, and both direct and indi-
measures are more important for work cli- rect personal financial support. There is
mate and productivity (Ronda, 2019). a high level of taxes and a high regula-
c) Third, despite the clichés of the past, tion of private family behaviour. Family
which linked family policy to conservative relationships are weak and are charac-
ideologies (Moreno and Salido, 2007), terised by a high proportion of single-
there has been an increasingly rich pub- person households and high levels of
lic debate instigated by the different au- loneliness (Esping Andersen, 1990).
tonomous regions (Redondo, 2018) and — The liberal model adopts an open fam-
even at the municipal level. These have ily concept; all unions and forms are le-
considered the multiple family types and gitimate as long as they are consen-
the different forms of intervention needed sually agreed by its members. This is
to address specific problems that go be- based on the liberal doctrine in which
yond ideological differences. people attach great importance to their
freedom and independence. This model
promotes the existence of multiple pri-
Different theoretical models for vate family services that compete in a
interpreting family policy free market so that, for example, nurs-
eries or nursing homes have low prices
A theoretical proposal is needed to analyse accessible to all sectors of the popu-
family policy measures that takes into ac- lation. There is no direct financial sup-
count the specific characteristics of Span- port for families, but indirect support is
ish society. To this end, the different clas- given to companies to encourage the
sifications related to welfare systems have greater supply of private services. They
been revised. The concepts proposed by promote minimal family legislation. Fam-
Esping Andersen (1990), including that of ily relationships are heavily influenced
the decommodification and defamiliarisation by the explicit or implicit calculation of
of services and their subsequent rework- cost benefits between their members
ings (Korpi, 2000), have served as a start- (Cabrillo, 1999).
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez 9
TABLE 2. Ideal types of ideological models of family policies
Welfare-based Liberal Mediterranean Relational
Family concept Safeguarding indi- Open. Traditional. Mediation of relations
vidual and gender between genders and
rights. generations.
Ideological Pillar Social democracy. Liberalism. Traditionalism. Communitarianism.
Feminism. Catholicism. Humanism.
Financial support to Direct and indirect Not direct, but in- Neither direct nor in- Direct and indirect su-
families financial support to direct to compa- direct, only in case of pport for groups.
individuals in the nies. poverty.
whole population.
Family support Extensive network of Promotion of pri- Poor public service Promotion of third sec-
services public welfare servi- vate services. network, only for di- tor services.
ces. sadvantaged groups.
Family legislation Highly regulated Minimal. Symbolic. The family at the centre
private behaviour. of social policy.
Family Relations Weak links. Exchange rela- Private family solida- Family solidarity open to
tions. rity (exclusive). society.
Source: Developed by the authors.
— The Mediterranean model follows a tra- relational goods. It considers the fam-
ditional, extended family-based model ily to be a fundamental social group in
based on the doctrine of the Catholic which there are mediation relationships
religion. It relies on a broad and strong between genders and generations (Do-
family network that provides many fam- nati, 2003). It is heavily influenced by hu-
ily services. Hence, there is no signifi- manist and community ideology that val-
cant network of private or public services ues social organisation centred around
aimed specifically at the family, and the intermediate social groups rather than
existing ones are only intended for the as a sum of isolated individuals. It pro-
most disadvantaged social groups (those motes the existence of direct and indi-
without a family network). These groups rect financial support to the family but is
are also the main recipients of the scarce aimed at the family group rather than its
financial support in place. Family pro- members. It promotes all family-related
tection is often included in the country’s welfare actors (welfare mix), especially
constitution, but family law usually con- third sector organisations. Great impor-
sists of measures that are more symbolic tance is attached to family legislation
than effective. Family relationships are that places the family as an active sub-
very important, but they are private, that ject in family policies. It promotes a fam-
is, there is a broad exclusive solidarity ily solidarity not exclusive to its mem-
between family members and their clos- bers but open to the whole of society.
est network, and very low levels of trust These ideal types of models conceal an
in people who are outside this network ideological dispute over how to interpret fam-
(Amoral Familism (Banfield, 1965)). ily policy that originates in the very construc-
— The relational model emphasises and tion of modern society, where the rights of
enhances family relationships as primary individuals take precedence over families (Na-
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-2210 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
poleon’s Civil Code, 1804). The family ideo- lational) based on the proposals pre-
logical left emphasises the individual, includ- sented in its electoral programmes.
ing ideas taken from Marxism, the Frankfurt
School, and feminism, and advocates a wel- This study is essentially exploratory and
fare-based rather than a community approach descriptive, but is also aimed to test a main
to family issues. For its part, the family ideo- hypothesis about whether there was any co-
logical right follows the influences of com- herence between the conservative and pro-
munity traditionalism, picking up the religious gressive ideology of the different parties that
humanist ideal and certain associated liberal ran in the election and their family-related
currents; it defends the rights of the group by proposals; in this way, left-wing parties could
prioritising family relationships. be expected to follow a model of welfare-
based family policy, while right-wing parties
would follow liberal or Mediterranean ten-
dencies. The classification of parties as right-
Methodology
wing or left-wing follows the average scores
assigned to them by Spaniards in the ideo-
The general objective of this study is to ana-
logical location questions conducted by the
lyse the family-related proposals contained in
CIS (2019)3. A comparative methodology was
the electoral programmes of the main national
used to contrast the ideas presented by all
parties that ran in the Spanish general election
the parties with each other, and in turn, to
on 28 April, 2019 (Partido Socialista Obrero
contrast these ideas with the ideal types out-
Español (PSOE), Partido Popular (PP), Ciu-
lined in the theoretical framework. Qualitative
dadanos partido de la ciudadanía (Cs), Uni-
methodology is ideal for this type of analysis
das Podemos (UP) and VOX)2. Political parties
when looking for the different ways of inter-
of all ideologies presented proposals explicitly
preting political discourse, situation and anal-
related to the family and family policies, with
ysis. However, the limitations typically found
ideological positions that could previously be
in qualitative analysis must be borne in mind.
considered to be very different. These general
objectives have resulted in three specific ob- The data used in this study came from
jectives: the electoral programme presented by each
political party in the General Election to the
1. To discover how the family was concep- Congress and the Senate held in Spain on
tualised by the political parties in their 28 April 2019. The electoral programmes
programmes in order to identify the fam- were taken from each party’s website4. Only
ily ideology defended by each of them. those measures related to family policies
2. To collect and compare the main meas-
ures that each party proposed in terms
of family and/or family policy, and in this 3 According to this scale, which ranks parties with
scores from 1 to 10, with 1 being the extreme left, and 10
way identify the main similarities and dif-
the extreme right, the PSOE scored 4,2;, the PP scored
ferences between them. 7,9; Ciudadanos scored 7,1; Unidas Podemos scored
2.3; and VOX scored 9.4 (Study 3263, CIS 2019).
3. To analyse the theoretical model of fam-
4 PSOE: https://www.psoe.es/media-content/2019/04/
ily policy adopted by each political party
PSOE-programa-electoral-elecciones-generales-28-
(welfare, liberal, Mediterranean or re- -de-abril-de-2019.pdf; PP: http://www.pp.es/sites/
default/files/documentos/programa-electoral-elec-
ciones-generales-2019.pdf; CIUDADANOS: https://
2 The fact that the election had to be called again on www.ciudadanos-cs.org/programa-electoral; UNIDAS
10 November 2019 meant that there was little signifi- PODEMOS: https://elpais.com/especiales/2019/elec-
cant change in the electoral programmes presented in ciones-generales/programas-electorales/pdf/podemos.
the elections on 28 April, so it was decided to analyse pdf; VOX https://www.voxespana.es/wp content/upload
the proposals presented on the earlier first date. s/2019/04/100medidasngal_101319181010040327.pdf
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez 11
were selected from these programmes, that grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
is, those that explicitly referred to the fam- and social hermeneutics (Conde, 2009), to in-
ily, following the recommendations made by terpret the meaning that political parties gave
Commaille, Strobel and Villac, (2002) in their to family and its related measures. This was
analysis of these social policies. In some then followed by a thematic content analy-
cases, these were easy to identify and in sis, based on the use of word clouds, look-
others they were disseminated across dif- ing not only for what was said but for the la-
ferent sections of the programme (Table 3). tent meanings contained in their use (López
Two qualitative analytical techniques were Aranguren, 2015). Atlas.ti 8.0 software was
used, namely, discourse analysis based on used to perform these analyses.
TABLE 3. Pages with family measures selected from the electoral programmes of all political parties
Parties Electoral Programmes for the April 2019 general election
Page 17, point 20; page 18, point 42; page 25, point 89; page 32, points 123, 125 and
128; page 33, point 133; page 34, point 137; page 45, point 206; page 49, points 214,
PP 215, 217-219, 220 and 222-224; page 50, points 232, 235 and 238; page 53, point 249;
page 54, point 256; page 56, point 281; page 57, points 284, 290 and 291; page 64, po-
int 316; page 69, point 337, and page 81, points 398 and 400
Pages 53, 59, 106, 61, 69, 71, 99, 104-110, 113, 123-125, 156, 206, 225, 234, 237-238,
PSOE
246-257, 262
Page 15, point 63; pág 19, point 39; page 26, point 56; page 27, points 57 and 59;
page 28, points 60, 62 and 63; page 29, points 65-68;
UNIDAS PODEMOS
page 30, point 69; page 67, point 154; page 70, point 167; page 80, point 188; page 82,
points 195 and 197; pág 85, points 209 and 211, and page 86, point 214
Page 10, point 39; page 11, point 34; page 14, point 57; page 15, points 61 and 63;
VOX page 16, point 65; page 17, points 70, 71 and 72;
page 18, points 73, 74, 75, 76 and 77, and page 19, points 78, 79, 80 and 81
The bulk of the programme was only available on the web, so the exact page numbers
CIUDADANOS were not available. The numbered points have been shown instead.
Points 1, 2, 3, 11, 23, 9, 10, 136, 17, 15, 13, 12, 14, 44, 6, 5, 39, 59, 7, 82
Source: Developed by the authors.
Results within their electoral programme, while
others such as VOX, made it one of the
The ideological dispute over the concept key areas of their ideological programme.
of family The fact that left-wing parties talked expli-
citly about family, and overcame what had
Family, as in other countries, is the most been a traditional ideological barrier (Sa-
valued social institution in Spain. Conse- lido and Moreno, 2007), led to a genuine
quently, there is a broad consensus that it debate between the family policies of the
must be protected and supported (Ayuso, “right” and the “left”. Each party had a
2020). In the last general election held very different definition of family, which
in 2019, parties such as Unidas Pode- included some significant ideological dis-
mos included some references to family crepancies.
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-2212 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
The content analysis carried out indi- used these words and were the most re-
cated that words such as: “family”, “fami- peated in the first quartile; this was similarly
lies” or “family member” was used by all found in the PP’s programme. The party
political parties and were also among the that least used terms related to family was
most often used (Figure 1). The PSOE used Ciudadanos, but they nevertheless empha-
both the plural term “families” or the ge- sised the word “all” (second most repeated
neric “family”. VOX’s programme also con- word in the whole text), indicating the par-
tained the words family, families and fam- ticularly open nature of their conception of
ily-related throughout, and the most often family and that their measures covered the
used was family. Unidas Podemos also majority of people.
FIGURE 1. Word clouds linked to family-related proposals submitted by the major Spanish political parties
Socialist Party Popular Party
Ciudadanos Unidas Podemos
VOX
Note: The word clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the programme.
Source: Developed by the authors.
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez 13
The main ideological contrasts were Recognising animals as sentient beings in the Ci-
found between the two parties that were vil Code. As has already been established in other
located furthest to the right and to the left European countries, animals will never again be
(VOX and Unidas Podemos). The word cloud considered as goods. This would offer greater
guarantees to animals and to those with whom
identified that for VOX, the use of family was
they live when they are in foreclosure procee-
mainly linked to it being conceived of as
dings, in which animals cannot be a piece of pro-
“natural”, linked to other terms such as “par- perty; in family crisis situations, they will be con-
ents”, “children”, “minors” and “protection”. sidered to be part of the family; and they will be
VOX was the only party that cited “large fam- protected, so that persons may not be forced to
ilies” among the 44 most repeated words. In separate from their animals, among other legal
contrast, the concept of family held by Uni- and moral implications (p. 19, point 39).
das Podemos was linked to that of “peo-
The ideological extremes of Unidas Po-
ple”, “rights”, “education” and “women” (it
demos and VOX presented an imaginary
was the party that repeated this term the
line that went from the proposal of reinstitu-
most, followed by the PSOE). Words such
tionalisation of the family advocated by VOX
as “adoptions” and “foster care” and “uni-
to the de-institutionalisation of the fam-
versality” were very important in the party’s
ily promoted by Unidas Podemos, which
conception of family, and included “animals”
included all types of families, in all their
as family members.
forms, including those not living together.
Discourse analysis confirmed these dif- The other parties were closer or further
ferences. VOX considered that “the natu- from each of these ideological extremes.
ral family should be protected”, and that it The Partido Popular was closer to VOX, es-
should be “recognised as an institution which pecially on issues related to large families,
comes before the State” (Page 17, point 71); motherhood and support for increased birth
its main function must be the “defence of rates (“We promote and defend the cul-
life from conception to natural death” (p. 18, ture of life, motherhood and families; and
point 75). This definition of family coincides we position ourselves on the side of women
with the ideology of the Catholic Church. For and will not ignore those who demand as-
its part, Unidas Podemos had a very open sistance from the institutions” (p. 49, point
conception of the family at the other end of 223)); while the PSOE was closer to Uni-
the ideological scale. Its main objective was das Podemos, with the defence of an open
to recognise family diversity in its broadest concept of family, its discourse maintained
sense, providing, the classic line from this party in defence of
[...] true protection for the various, freely chosen their individual rights (words such as: “serv-
family situations, applying measures to support ices”, “education” and “social” were in the
adoption by LGTBI families, officially recognising first quartile).
lesbian couples, and providing legal protection for The programme put forward by Ciu-
new forms of stable cohabitation without being in
dadanos was the richest from an ideological
a partnership (Page 26, point 56).
point of view, as it combined aspects from lib-
They also promoted “the protection of eralism and welfare that included all types of
single-parent families, t equating them with families. Ciudadanos maintained a very open
large families” (page 28, point 63). This party concept of family that sometimes brought it
explicitly included the consideration of ani- closer to the PP, for example, in support of
mals as family members, an aspect that has large families, or to VOX in its treatment of
been the subject of sociological debate in shared custody; but in others it was closer to
Europe (Doré, Michalon and Lebanon, 2019). the PSOE and Unidas Podemos (giving equal
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-2214 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
prominence to single-parent families and There were no important new measures
large ones, and including pets as family mem- concerning benefits and direct economic
bers). This party had the most open and more measures to help families; parties such as
“pragmatic” conception of family; in other the PP and Ciudadanos made general pro-
words, its ideas included not only one type of posals and not explicitly focused on the
family (traditional ideological struggle) but was family, even if they were related to it (reduc-
aimed at helping all (pragmatism), which led tion of tax burden, lower income tax, local
the party to defend the rights of large families, tax credit, etc.). Podemos did not present
of unmarried couples, and to argue for surro- a package of economic measures specifi-
gacy and even animals. cally for families. The most interesting ini-
tiatives in this block were those presented
by the PSOE and VOX; measures proposed
The parties’ programmes: towards a by the PSOE were welfare-based, with the
family pragmatics “minimum liveable income per child’ and
the “reduction of VAT to 4% in children’s
The fact that the family appeared in the products”; those put forward by VOX had a
electoral programmes of the main politi- more relational character, such as the “uni-
cal parties made it possible to compare versal benefit per dependent child”.
their ideas and analyse how far or close The third block related to family and
they were to each other. Each party propo- work balance and was where the transition
sed measures related to its ideological con- to “family pragmatics” was best observed,
ception of family, but there were also areas in the sense that there were important
of consensus around “family pragmatics”, areas of agreement between all political
that is, practical measures and services that parties regardless of their ideology. Most
went beyond ideology. Table 4 summarises of the measures were clearly welfare ori-
the parties’ main ideas organised around ented. There was significant consensus on
five blocks: institutional measures, benefits improving and expanding parental leave,
and financial support, family and work ba- and on implementing an effective plan to
lance, family-related proposals within edu- help keep the balance between work and
cation, and family-related explicit proposals family life. This was joined by other widely
linked to social protection measures. shared measures that included studying
the options for streamlining work sched-
Institutional measures were the most
ules (PSOE), with initiatives ranging from
ideological; all parties emphasised their in-
greater flexibility of working hours (VOX),
terest in legislating in favour of the family to accumulated work time to be balanced
according to how each party ideologically out (PP and Ciudadanos), and the pro-
conceived this social institution. Some par- motion of teleworking (PP, Ciudadanos,
ties, such as the PSOE and Ciudadanos, VOX). This block also included original pro-
explicitly proposed the creation of “Fam- posals that enriched this debate such as:
ily Laws’ that grouped their multiple initia- positive Parenting through co-responsibil-
tives in this area; while others such as the ity proposed by the PSOE; tax incentives
PP advocated a Maternity Support Act, and and benefits for companies that employed
Podemos supported legislation that recog- women after pregnancy (PP, Ciudadanos
nised family diversity. VOX was committed and VOX); both Ciudadanos and Unidas
to recognising the importance of the fam- Podemos proposed a reduction in working
ily by creating a Family Ministry that would hours, specifically, reducing the working
also serve to articulate these social policies. week to 34 hours.
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22TABLE 4. Main family-related measures proposed by political parties
Measures Partido Socialista Partido Popular Ciudadanos Unidas Podemos VOX
Drafting of Family law (large fami- Maternity support aw. Family support law. Recognising family diversity Creation of a Family Mi-
lies, single-parent families, multiple Portal for birth support. Large families: those with two children. Protecting single-parent fa- nistry.
births, foster families). Defence of a culture of life, mo- Single-parent families equal to large fa- milies to equate them with Defence of life from con-
Institutional
Change of the concept of large fa- therhood and family. milies. large families. ception to natural death.
and ideolo-
mily to 4 children. Measures for large families (espe- Shared custody law. Recognising animals as part
gical
Concerted plan (development of so- cially extended to 4 children, re- Domestic partners law. of families in the civil code.
cial services aimed at families by mu- newal depending on child status). National adoption office.
nicipalities and autonomous regions). Surrogate parenting law.
Maintain family allowance for chil- Income Tax Reductions (autono- Granting families tax deductions for Universal benefit of 1,200 Universal benefit per each
B e n e f i t s dren with disabilities. mous regions). donations to state-funded private euros for child and adoles- dependent child.
and finan- Minimum income support per child. Local Tax benefits. schools. cent care (2,000 euros in Income tax reduction (sin-
cial support VAT 4% children’s products. Reduction of tax burden. Lower income tax. cases of severe poverty). gle rate).
Reinforcement of discounted rates. Tax benefits.
Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez
Positive parenting through co-res- National work/life balance agree- Concilia plan:100% tax benefits. Non-transferable maternity / Specific plan for women to
ponsibility. ment (teleworking). Cumulative work hours and telewor- paternity leaves. return to work after preg-
W o r k / F a - Same terms on leaves for childbirth Cumulative work hours for fle- king. Working hours of 34 hours nancy without cost for
m i l y b a - (equal and non-transferable). xibility. Re-joining labour market after mater- per week. companies.
lance School hours 0-12 yearss. Tax incentives for companies that nity € 1200. Promotion of telework,
Streamlining of working hours. employ women post-maternity. Setting up of maternity / paternity leave. part-time and flexible hours
Reduction of working hours. Extending maternity leave.
Free nursery schools 0-3. National law 0-3. Free choice of school. Universal and free coverage School voucher system
Means-tested grants. State-funded, public and private Renewal of state-funded private school 0-3. Grant system.
School supplies-books support. school support (free choice). agreements based on demand. Free books, school dinners Establishment of a parental
Protection of religion as a subject. Free textbooks. and school supplies. PIN and express authorisa-
Education Supports for special needs schools.
Special education support. Nursery Voucher. Eliminating payments to sta- tion of the parents for acti-
and family School lunch for all families.
Right to choose a school for pa- Intensive English summer programme. te-funded private schools. vities with moral content.
Training on internet use and social
rents of children with disabilities. Sufficient grant system.
networks for parents.
Teacher training for children with Digitisation as a basic
special needs. household right.
Expand assisted reproductive te- International adoption support. Single vaccination calendar and ma- Promotion of foster care Service vouchers for fa-
chniques to the second child. Social protection for young preg- king families aware of its importance and adoption measures. mily needs.
Support for cares in a family envi- nant women. Free dentist. Refurbishing homes to pro- Discount rates based on
Family so- Single-parent family protection. Strategy against depopulation. mote energy efficiency and family members for elec-
ronment.
cial protec- Strengthening care for parents supplies cost reduction. tricity, gas, etc.
Policy to prevent separation of mi-
tion with children with disabilities. Protecting families with mort- Pediatric dentistry.
nors in family environment.
Universalisation of domestic su- Judicial mediation programmes gages.
pport services. for families.
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22
15
Source: Developed by the authors.16 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
While educational policies are also directly vouchers for family needs; and Ciudadanos
related to family policies, this issue aroused was the only party that linked the issue of de-
greater dissent. In general, all parties agreed population to family policies.
to extend schooling from 0 to 3 years. There
was also general agreement concerning wel-
fare measures which included free textbooks The Spanish political parties’ family
(Ciudadanos, Unidas Podemos, and PSOE), policy models
and more or less universal support for school
lunches and supplies (PSOE and Unidas Po- The family policy models that the different po-
demos). The PSOE, Podemos and VOX called litical parties presented in their electoral pro-
for the implementation of different grant pro- grammes largely depended on how they each
grammes. The main dispute in this area con- conceived of the Spanish welfare system,
cerned whether families had freedom to con- their own political ideology, and electoral mar-
trol their children’s education (parental pin in keting strategies according to the demands
VOX) and especially the choice of school; par- of their potential voters. For the analysis of
ties such as Ciudadanos and the PP chose to their proposals in the family sphere, a classi-
promote free choice of school, with special fication was established based on ideal types.
support for state-funded private schools (in The welfare-based model prioritises individual
the case of the PP), VOX was in favour of a rights above all; the liberal model is commit-
“school voucher” system, while Podemos ted to exchange relations and respect for the
called for the elimination of state-aided pri- privacy and freedom of its members; the Me-
vate schools. There were also original meas- diterranean model follows the influence that
ures such as: giving parents Internet and so- the family has in the Catholic cultural tradi-
cial networks training (PSOE), teacher training tion; while the relational involves an evolution
for children with special needs (PP), digitalisa- of the Mediterranean model that emphasises
tion as a basic right of inhabited areas (Uni- family relations. The proposals presented by
das Podemos) and an intensive English Sum- the parties were closer to one ideal type than
mer School (Ciudadanos). to others; there were some combinations of
Finally, the family social protection block ideal types according to the categories analy-
brought together a multitude of highly diverse sed, so it not always being possible to identify
initiatives that would also have a strong im- them clearly (Table 5).
pact on the family situations. The PP and the The concept of family analysed above
PSOE presented a greater wealth of ideas in shows a wide ideological plurality; how-
this area. The PP proposed measures ranging ever, there were some similarities between
from programmes for international adoption, Ciudadanos and Unidas Podemos on their
protection of young pregnant women and open conception in favour of regulating any
single-parent families, to assistance for par- form of cohabitation. The PSOE had a more
ents with children with disabilities and media- welfare-based stance and prioritised the
tion programmes. The PSOE promoted uni- rights of its members, while VOX defended
versal home help services, support for cares the traditional family model (Mediterranean).
in the family environment, and preventive The PP was closer to the relational model,
programmes for children in the event of their accepted the plurality of the family, but pri-
parents’ separation or divorce, and even ex- oritised those forms that empowered the
tending assisted reproduction techniques for group over individuals. From the point of
the second child. The other parties proposed view of the ideological pillar that guided
minor measures: Unidas Podemos focused their policies, both the PSOE and Unidas
on housing and mortgages; VOX on service Podemos adopted the welfare-based ap-
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22Luis Ayuso Sánchez and Milagrosa Bascón Jiménez 17
proach of social democracy and feminism; olic culture. These links were not so clear in
Ciudadanos was the most liberal of all par- the PP, which mainly adopted ideas from
ties, while in VOX there were important ex- the European humanist and community tra-
plicit links with traditionalism and the Cath- dition (also religion-based).
TABLE 5. Classification of Spanish political parties according to the categories of their family policy
Partido Partido Ciudadanos Unidas VOX
Socialista Popular Podemos
Concept of family Welfare-based Relational Liberal Liberal Mediterranean
Ideological Pillar Welfare-based Relational Liberal Welfare-based Mediterranean
Relational
Financial support for Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean
families Welfare-based Relational Relational Welfare-based Welfare-based
Family support ser- Welfare-based Welfare-based Welfare-based Welfare-based Welfare-based
vices Relational Liberal Relational
Family legislation Welfare-based Relational Liberal Mediterranean Mediterranean
Welfare-based Relational
Family Relations Welfare-based Mediterranean Asistencialista Welfare-based Mediterranean
Relational Relational
Source: Developed by the authors.
The analysis of financial support for fam- Something similar happened with fam-
ilies showed that Spain can be still consid- ily support services, where a welfare-based
ered a Mediterranean country in the way it model prevailed in all parties, but with some
builds its welfare system. There was sub- individual nuances. The PSOE and Po-
stantial agreement across the board. A demos highlighted the care and welfare
“Mediterranean welfare model” prevailed aspects and proposed numerous family
(PSOE, Podemos and VOX), whereby no support, educational and life/work balance
direct economic measures were proposed services depending on income levels. This
for families as a unit, but more for individu- welfare-based approach had its own fea-
als or family members (the most disadvan- tures in the programmes of Ciudadanos,
taged prevailing). These which benefit the PP and VOX with an emphasis on freedom
family but must be interpreted more as a of choice (Ciudadanos), the pluralisation of
fight against poverty than as explicitly fam- welfare actors (PP), and the implementa-
ily measures. “We will legally guarantee that tion of so-called “vouchers” for the choice
no one is left without sufficient income, re- of services.
gardless of their employment status or their The family legislation that the different po-
pension […]” (p. 82, point 197). The “rela- litical parties proposed was also very much an
tional Mediterranean” model was not that indicator of their ideological position. Those
popular, although some specific family sit- parties that opted for little regulation and a
uations were taken into account such as high symbolic impact on public opinion can
large families and providing tax relief for be considered to have a more Mediterranean
third sector organisations. position; some had a more caring charac-
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-2218 The Discovery of Family Policies in Spain: Between Ideology and Pragmatism
ter, in the case of Podemos, more connected rights and the recognition of particularly sen-
with family diversity; and others had a more sitive situations such as inequality between
relational orientation, more linked to the tra- men and women, dependency and the fight
ditional family, such as the case of VOX. In against gender-based violence, but, in gene-
these measures, the liberal character of Ciu- ral, many of these measures have not served
dadanos was more clearly seen (“We will ap- to structure a real social family policy (Fla-
prove an altruistic and protective Surrogate quer, 2012). In some cases there have been
Motherhood Law” (Point 10)); and the rela- many initiatives that have not had sufficient
tional attitude of the PP was also identified, financial support, which have played a sym-
which proposed to place the family at the bolic rather than real role in the eyes of pu-
centre of its family legislation (“We will pro- blic opinion; and in other cases family issues
mote policies driven by public administrations have not been addressed comprehensively,
that are family focused” (p. 49, point 214)). by designing and linking services that would
give the family, their needs and demands a
Finally, the way in which political parties
central place in policies.
conceive family relations is very important for
analysing family policies. Both VOX and the This paper has analysed the electoral
PP supported a Mediterranean model, where programmes of the main political parties
they proposed measures that prioritised the that ran in the April 2019 election. Since
maintenance and strengthening of primary 1977, few proposals have been explic-
and secondary family relationships (fam- itly presented in this area, mainly caused
ily solidarity). Hence for example VOX’s de- by changes in the Mediterranean welfare
fence of shared custody (private family soli- model, especially regarding the role of
darity), and the PP’s support for motherhood women (Pino and Rubio, 2016), and the
(open family solidarity) (relational model). The new family needs perceived by the elector-
other parties interpreted family relations in a ate. The hypothesis to be verified analysed
weaker way, although the PSOE’s proposals the ideological coherence of the parties
for supporting carers in the family environ- with the content of their programmes.
ment were of a more relational character. The results have indicated the latent ideol-
ogy existing in the electoral programmes, as
shown by how they used words in connec-
Conclusions tion with family; for example, the PSOE and
Unidas Podemos talked mainly about men
To date, Spain has not developed a genuine and women, while VOX and PP talked about
family policy5. Despite the importance of the fathers and mothers. There was significant
family in the generally shared ideology, and disagreement regarding the type of family to
its crucial role as an actor of social cohesion, which the greatest attention should be paid,
the internal strength of the family in Spain but also important consensus on measures
is inversely proportional to its limited exter- that could be called “family pragmatics” that
nal strength. This does not mean that there benefit all families. The analysis based on the-
have been no initiatives and improvements oretical models pointed out the differences in
that have positively affected the family. Pro- the most ideological issues, as well as a de-
gress has been made mainly on individual gree of agreement in the widespread survival
of a Mediterranean model in terms of financial
support and a welfare-based approach in re-
5 Spain is among the last five OECD countries in pub- lation to support services. An important con-
lic spending on family benefits (2015) http://www.oecd.
org/els/soc/PF1_1_Public_spending_on_family_ben- tribution of this “awakening” of family policies
efits.pdf has been the existence of a greater debate
Reis. Rev.Esp.Investig.Sociol. ISSN-L: 0210-5233. N.º 174, April - June 2021, pp. 3-22You can also read
