Familiar Changes and New Social Policies in Spain

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present «new» social policies in Spain focused on attending to the needs for everyday care of dependent people. Attention is focused on care as a key concept whose reality of reference is broader than the family framework, although it includes it (Lewis, 1997 and 2007; Letablier, 2007; Brullet, 2010). The focus is therefore not on family policies in relation to childhood, but on social policies of proximity for supporting the care of people and the quality of life from early infancy until adult ages. It advocates for the sustainability of welfare in our society through an increase in private corresponsibility between men and women, and corresponsibility between private and public institutions.
In the first part, I examine the delegitimisation of the modern patriarchal family in western societies, and the opportunities and challenges that this generates in the early 21st century. In the second, I look at the relationship between care of people in their everyday lives and the place of families in the provision of care in the different European welfare systems. The comparison of public expenditure on the support of families with sons and daughters among European countries shows that Spain and Catalonia are at the bottom of the ranking. Third, I comment on the discourse in favour of the implementation of «new» social policies that, though maintaining ideological differences, seek to respond to the increasing conflict in Spain between the ethics of care and the ethics of paid work. These are what are known as «conciliation» policies, «lifetime» policies and «care» policies. The fourth section is propositive. I present seven tendencies of family change, the risks they involve and the possible proximity policies for the prevention of risk and support of family and community care networks. I end the article looking at the concepts of ethics of care and corresponsability that, in my opinion, should be present in and should guide social and
education policies.