Spain’s planned universal child benefit has been lauded as necessary to eradicate child poverty and encourage Spaniards to form a family. So how likely is it to be approved this year?
The Spanish government recently approved plans for a universal childcare allowance for all families with children, seeking to eradicate the most severe child poverty by 2030.
The €200 per month benefit would be available to all families if the measure comes to fruition, totalling €2,400 per year for each child under 18.
Despite being the fourth largest economy in the EU, Spain has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the bloc. In Spain approximately one in three children lives below the poverty line (29.2 percent), a figure well above the EU average of 19.3 percent.
READ ALSO: Spain aims to give parents €2,400 per year for each child under 18
The risk of poverty or social exclusion among children is even higher, reaching 34.6 percent, compared to 24.2 percent in the EU.
Necessary though some say the benefit is, it remains unclear when or how it will actually come into force.
Spain’s Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, from the far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, has stated during a press conference that he is confident that the new childcare benefit “will see the light of day as soon as possible”, adding that “its impact will be extraordinary and extremely positive for Spanish democracy”.
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However, there is still no set date for the measure to come into effect. For now, it remains in the proposal stage within the broader ‘2030 Sustainable Development Strategy’. Bustinduy has acknowledged that the political calendar is tight.
The priority option being considered by the Ministry of Social Affairs, as revealed to Spanish outlet 20minutos, is to include the benefit as part of the state budget.
However, in recent years a fragile parliamentary majority has made passing laws difficult for the government, with no new budget passed since 2023.
This is the first time the government has incorporated this universal childcare allowance into a national strategy.
The ultimate goal is to provide aid for each child under 18 to help ease the financial burden on families and incentivise them to have children, as well as to reduce child poverty.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, this financial support would reduce child poverty by 50 percent and, in the remaining 50 percent, reduce its severity by 40 percent.
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A further complication that could delay implementation is that Bustinduy’s measure has to be signed off by the Ministry of Finance, which is key to giving the benefit the green light.
Finance Minister María Jesús Montero, from the ruling Socialists (PSOE), has remained cautious, hinting that any new type of universal benefit could require the restructuring of other state aid. “If a single benefit needs to be improved, we would have to reorganise all these additional payments into some other benefit, whatever it may be called,” she said.
This clashes with Bustinduy, who maintains the idea of providing direct income and avoiding aid through income tax returns, a system that often leaves out the most vulnerable families.
Bustinduy’s department has told the Spanish media that if the budgetary route fails, either due to a lack of political agreement or a further rollover of the old budget, it is also considering approving the benefit by means of a royal decree, a method that the government has already used for other measures with a major economic impact.
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