MADRID, 27 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Council of Ministers will approve this Tuesday, in second reading, the Family Law that equates the rights of unmarried couples to those of married couples, includes a paid leave of five days a year for the care of a family member or cohabitant and extends the benefits for large families to single parents with two children. The text will be approved without substantial changes, according to what government sources have confirmed to Europa Press.
The draft law on Families was approved in first reading last December, at the proposal of the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda. After its approval this Tuesday in the second round, it will be sent to the Congress of Deputies where it will be requested to be processed by the emergency route.
The text is articulated around four main pillars: the extension of social protection to families and support for upbringing; advance in the guarantee of the right to conciliation; the full recognition of the different types of families that already exist in Spain, and the recognition and protection of the rights of children and adolescents.
Regarding the extension of social protection to families, the parenting income of 100 euros per month will be extended for a greater number of families with sons and daughters from 0 to 3 years of age. According to the department’s calculations, this measure will benefit some 250,000 new mothers in Spain.
Likewise, the denomination of ‘Families with the greatest support needs for upbringing’ is created, which includes “large families”, in addition to single-parent families with two children; families with two children where an ascendant or descendant has a disability; families with two children headed by a victim of gender violence or by a spouse who has obtained sole guardianship and custody without the right to maintenance, and families with two children in which one parent is undergoing hospital treatment for one year or has entered prison.
On the other hand, families that until now were considered large in the general category, such as those with four children, instead of five as up to now, will be considered families with the greatest needs for “special category” parenting support; families with three children in case of multiple births, instead of four as at present, and families with three children and low income (up to 150% of the IPREM).
Regarding the guarantee of the right to conciliation, the law creates three care leaves, the first of which is a paid leave for five days a year to care for a family member up to the second degree or cohabitant, that the workers or workers may use in case of accident or serious illness, hospitalization or surgical intervention without hospitalization that requires rest.
It also includes an eight-week parental leave, which can be enjoyed continuously or discontinuously, until the minor turns eight; and a four-day leave of absence to attend to a family member who requires immediate attention, which can be enjoyed for hours.
Regarding the recognition of the different types of families, the law advances in the equalization of rights between married couples and common-law couples, since the latter will have access to 15 days of leave for registration comparable to marriage.
The law also generates a new framework of recognition and protection for LGTBI families, with a member with a disability, multiple families, reconstituted, adoptive or foster families.
Specifically, multiple families, that is, those that have several sons or daughters at the same time, will be considered as a special protection group and the sons and daughters of unmarried couples may be registered in the registry by the non-pregnant parent.
The text approved in December also prohibited parents and guardians from preventing access to content on family diversity through the so-called ‘parental PIN’ or any other similar mechanism in educational centers.
