Spain's cabinet to approve decree extending aid to single-parent and large families

What the government is set to approve

The Council of Ministers is expected to approve a royal decree-law on Tuesday, 10 November, to strengthen protection for single-parent families, large families on low incomes and families in which one parent has a disability. The measure is driven by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda, which estimates it will benefit more than 760,000 families and close to three million people. The budget is more than 820 million euros a year. Ministry sources told EL PAÍS that this sum mainly reflects tax incentives and revenue the state would otherwise collect.

Pedro Sánchez announced the decree on social media, writing that the aim is to recognise single-parent and single-mother households and reinforce their social protection. He framed the decision in personal terms.

“Raising a child alone should not mean doing it without support.”

An official title for single-mother families

The decree creates an official title for single-parent families, which EL PAÍS notes does not currently exist at national level. The accreditation would be valid before any public or private body and would give priority access to aid in employment, public housing, work-life balance and social protection, along with exemptions and rebates from public administrations. The text also defines which households count as single-parent or single-mother units, including cases of sole custody, gender violence and the prolonged absence of one parent. The government says more than 80% of these families are headed by women.

Large-family status and disability

Single-parent families with two children will gain access to large-family benefits. The ministry's example is a single mother with two minor children and net income of 24,000 euros a year, who could deduct 100 euros a month, or 1,200 euros a year. Two-child families in which one parent has a disability of 33% or more will also qualify. The decree extends the special large-family category to households with four or more children, and to households whose income is below 150% of IPREM per member from the third child onwards.

Poverty risk behind the measure

The most recent Living Conditions Survey from INE, dated 2025, puts the at-risk-of-poverty or social-exclusion rate for households made up of one adult with children at 50.6%, almost double the 25.7% for the population as a whole. A report by the European Anti-Poverty Network in Spain, cited by eldiario.es, found that more than 22% of single-parent households live in severe poverty, 21% in non-severe poverty and 10.5% close to poverty.

Single adult with children50.6%

Total population25.7%

Single adult with children

50.6 %

Total population

25.7 %

Data from the article text

Parliamentary path

EL PAÍS reports that the measure rescues parts of the Family Law, which lapsed when the election was called in the previous legislature and then stalled in Congress for more than two years for lack of support from coalition partners. Pablo Bustinduy, the minister, described the decree as a social protection law for single-mother families, large families on low incomes and families of people with disabilities.

“It is a social protection law for single-mother families (finally an official title of their own!), large families on low incomes and families of people with disabilities.”

The decree-law will still need to be validated by Congress before it takes lasting effect.