The Council of Ministers has approved the draft of the Family Law, a regulation that protects, first and foremost, the right of workers to be able to take care of their closest relatives and the people they live with when they are sick, whether they are hospitalized or not ( until now, only for hospital admission and only to relatives). The law also equates the rights of all types of families and extends the orphan's pension to 26 years of age.
It also extends social protection to families with an income of 100 euros for those with children up to 3 years of age (working mothers, even part-time or temporary, and those unemployed who have a benefit, even if it is not contributory).
One change compared to the initial text is that there is no longer any reference to the 'parental pin' following the guidelines of the Council of State (in the first round, the rule established the prohibition for parents to prevent access to content on family diversity through the well-known as a 'parental pin' in educational centers "to protect the rights of children and adolescents," it stated).
Regarding the right to conciliation, a new architecture is formed with three permits, which put care and time at the center and which gives support to families. On the one hand, a care leave of 5 days a year is established, which can be used in the event of a serious accident or illness, hospitalization or surgical intervention without hospitalization that requires rest, both for a relative up to 2nd degree and for a cohabitant, something new so far.
And a parental leave of 8 weeks, which can be enjoyed continuously or discontinuously, full or part time, until the minor turns 8 years old and a third new leave "due to force majeure", which will be distributed by hours and may reach up to 4 days a year in total. The latter seeks to allow fathers and mothers to be absent from work when there are urgent and unforeseeable family reasons, such as a sudden illness of the minor.
Regarding parenting support, the parenting income of 100 euros per month will be extended structurally to families with children up to 3 years of age. This extension includes all mothers who are receiving an unemployment benefit, contributory or not, and also those who, without previously meeting the requirements, contribute 30 days after the birth.
The Family Law, promoted by the Ministry of Social Services headed by Ione Belarra, responds to Spain's international commitments in terms of reconciling family and professional life of parents and caregivers and complies with the Government coalition agreement.
The text guarantees full recognition of the different types of families that already exist in our country, equating their rights. Thus, LGTBI families, families with members with disabilities, multiple families, adoptive families, reconstituted families or foster families, among others, will be legally recognized.
The equalization between marriages and common-law couples is also practically completed, guaranteeing that common-law couples will have access to the 15 days of leave for registration comparable to marriage.
As of the approval of the law, more families will have social protection under the name of "Families with the greatest needs for parenting support." In this category, those considered up to now "large families" will be collected, in addition to the following: 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 need for support for upbringing in the special category; families with three children in case of multiple births, instead of four as currently, and families with three children and low income (up to 150% of the IPREM)
