Single parents must receive as much paid leave as couples, according to Spanish court rules

Single parents in Spain can claim the same amount of paid parental leave that couples get, a regional court has ruled. Many single-parent families in the country.

The ruling by a court in the southeastern region of Murcia is the first since Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled in November to ban discrimination against children born to single parents.

In the decision cited by the Regional Court, the Constitutional Court wrote that “regardless of the family model in which they were born, the duration and intensity of the need to care for and care for the newborn is the same.”

In practice, this means that lone parents can claim the full paid leave that Spanish couples can get: Six weeks of compulsory leave to be taken together10 more for each parent, for a total of 16 weeks per parent. For a single person serving as both parents, that would add up to 32 weeks of leave, according to the state court ruling.

Carla Val, a Barcelona-based gender expert, said new parents in other parts of Spain could cite the Murcia court decision to apply for the benefit. “Now this doctrine means that the rest of the courts are going to adopt a reading of the law,” she said in a phone interview.

Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy described the decision as “good news and a victory for civil society after years of struggle and demands.”

The decision will see Spain join other European countries in efforts to standardize the amount of leave between single parents and married couples. Finland, Germany And Swedenin addition Australia.

Spain has one The lowest birth rate The EU has tried for decades to encourage more births, including incentives such as tax cuts and the child bonus – with little success. Spain also recently increased paternity leave.

“What Spain has done is actually make paternity and maternity leave comparable to each other, which is very unusual,” said Peter Moss, emeritus professor at University College London, who has studied parental leave.

Single parents make up one in 10 families in Spain. There were about 1.9 million single-parent households. 2020Current government data shows that 81 percent were single-mother households.

Meanwhile, many in Spain hailed the regional court’s decision as a step toward gender equality in a country where the average salary for women is about 24,400 euros, or $25,000, compared to about 29,400 euros for men, according to government figures.

In the decision, the court mentioned 2023 government information This shows that 53 per cent of single parent families are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to 27 per cent of all families.

The court case was filed by 44-year-old Silvia Pardo Moreno in January 2022 when she gave birth to a daughter in Murcia, who joined Single Mothers. Ms. Pardo, a part-time worker at an emergency services firm, requested 32 weeks of leave from Social Security, saying her daughter should receive the same care as her peers.

Ms. Pardo’s request was denied. So she left her 4-month-old son in day care to return to work 16 weeks later.

In an interview after the decision, “there were no children in kindergarten at that age, because the other parents had the right to take care of them for a long time.”

Mrs. Pardo went to court but lost. She then appealed and sent her case to the district court. This time the court ruled against her.

“Pre-emption gives a single mother extra cover because it gives her four extra months where she knows she won’t be fired,” said lawyer Ms Val.

“When a single woman decides to become a mother, the difference is whether she should give the care of the baby to someone else, such as a nanny?” Mrs. Val added. “The child must be in someone’s care. And the woman must be protected. In the first year of life, when that mother needs help the most, this advantage is very important.”

Ms. Pardo said she did not know how the court would compensate her for her time. But with her son, who turns 3 on Friday, she knows she can never get those early weeks back.

“Most of all, I lost time,” she said. “My daughter couldn’t be there when I needed her the most.”