The Spanish Federation of Large Families in collaboration with the Madrid Vivo Foundation have published the IV Radiography of Large Families in Spain, an annual study carried out to assess how is the profile of this type of families in our country.
Far away is the stereotype that exists around large families and is associated with a high number of children and an economic position, because according to this study, 70% of large Spanish families have three children and only one in four manages to save something at the end of the month.
Difficulties to reach the end of the month
Since I am a mother of a large family, one of the many phrases I hear from other people is one that says: "If I had more money I would also have three children," implying that large families have full pockets. But nothing is further from reality, because On most occasions large families must juggle to make ends meet..
And this is demonstrated by the annual study carried out by the Spanish Federation of Large Families and the Madrid Vivo Foundation, which after analyzing the profile of more than 3,300 large families in our country has seen that half of them arrive with difficulties at the end of the month and one in three must pull savings or incur debts to meet family expenses and needs.
Of the families participating in the study, 48% live with less than 2,500 euros per month, and of this group 13% do so with less than 1,200 euros.The distribution of expenses faced by large families is headed by the shopping cart, which accounts for 91%, followed by household-related expenses (mortgage or rent and supplies) and education.
In fact, going back to school is the most difficult expense for families. And is that In most households with three or more children, they are of school age, the majority group being children between the ages of seven and 11.
Increase the number of large families
However, despite the serious demographic crisis that we suffer in Spain and the decreasing trend in the number of births that have been perceived since 2008, The number of large families in our country is increasing.
According to the 2016 data of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, there are a total of 609,474 large families with the title in force, of which 70% have three children, followed by 16% who have four.In 2016, large families grew in 22,705 compared to the previous year, being the autonomous communities that more numerous families register that of Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid. At the opposite end are La Rioja, Ceuta and Melilla.
The profile of large families in Spain
Based on the majority data that are reflected in the study, if we had to do a type profile of the large family in Spain, we would say that it is that composed of a married couple (in 88% of cases) between 36 and 45 years, with three children between seven and 11 years of age, who study in a public school, in a 49 % of cases (only 6% do so in private schools).
Most parents have higher education (the percentage being higher in the case of mothers) and the most frequent employment situation is that both work in the private sector, with the percentage of self-employed being reduced to 17% in the case of parents and 12% in the case of mothers.
In my particular case, some of these characteristics that refer to the type profile are not met, although I have been reflected in the data related to the domestic economy. Personally, by not having my three children of school age yet, I have not been able to verify the expenses that this implies, but instead I know what it means to allocate an important part of the shopping cart budget to diapers and other hygiene items for two babies.
Holidays or Christmas parties are, according to the study, the other two major expenses that large families must face.
In the case of vacations, there are more and more hotels or lodgings that think of large families, but still, the budget that must be allocated to the hotel stay, meals away from home or leisure plans becomes very high.
The same goes for Christmas and the gifts of these dates. And although surely all families (numerous, or not) are aware of the importance of reducing gift expenses both for the sake of our pocket and for our children, for large families this time is also an important economic challenge that we face.
Are you a large family? Have you felt identified with this study or are you in the elaborated type profile?
Photos iStock, Pixabay
Source IV Radiography of Large Families in Spain
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