According to the latest census data in Spain, for the first time the proportion of so-called 'traditional families', consisting of two parents and one or more children, is no longer the majority.

The sum of childless couples or single-parent families with one or more children now outnumbers the 'traditional families', reports Spanish newspaper El Confidencial.

In 2022, the percentage of married people also no longer represents a majority in Spain, and in July of this year statistics showed that shared custody has become the norm in the country.

Changes in the family model

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) defines family units as those made up of a married couple or couple living together with or without children, as well as those of one of the two parents who live together with one or more children.

“For example, two siblings living together are not a 'family unit'”, explains Cristina Casaseca, deputy general director of demographic statistics at the INE.

At national level, in 15 provinces there are still more families made up of two parents and one or more children. The provinces with the highest proportion of single-parent families are Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Ourense.

Keeping the family structure

Despite the changes, “the family structure remains the same. Sunday lunch, family holidays, celebrating birthdays... are images of everyday life that reinforce family ties”, Luis Ayuso, Professor of Sociology at the University of Malaga and expert in families, couples and digital society, told El Confidencial.

“This Spanish family-based culture is generally accepted, regardless of ideology or religion”, he added.

According to OECD data, between 78% and 87% of Spaniards keep in contact with their parents or children once a week, compared to the international average of 61% and 67%.

Single-parent family, the fastest growing

The type of family that has grown the most is that made up of a single parent with one or more children.

They represent now one in four families, whereas in the 1990s they were 11% of households. In the last decade alone, this group has grown by eight percentage points.

However, the data can be affected by the way each Census is conducted. For the latest one (2021), the information was collected from administrative records, while previously it came mainly from surveys.

“There are forms of cohabitation that the records are not going to measure, such as couples who are not registered in any database”, says Casaseca.

For the deputy director of the INE, this is one of the challenges facing demographic statistics, “because there is no specific source that measures this phenomenon”.

The Ecepov confirms that 49% of households consist of a father, a mother and one or more children, while childless couples make up 33% and single-parent families 18%.

Household size

According to experts, the most stable data on the evolution of families are those on household size.

In the 1970 census, there were on average around four people per household in Spain, whereas this figure is now less than three.

However, thanks to migration, households with five or more inhabitants have grown.

“Where there are more foreigners, the household size is higher, while where the population is older, you have more single-person households”, Casaseca explains.

Christian views

Changes in the family model also affect Christians and churches, which have to respond to the new challenges they bring.

That is is why the Working Group on Family of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) launched the document “The Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity environment, and its impact on the family”.

It contains three papers and the group work done by the almost one hundred participants of an inquiry on the family organised by the AEE.

“Social educator Judit Gassó addresses the family model today and its substitutes, Victor Mirón, a pioneer in working on family matters in the Christian church environment, gives a presentation for churches that want to have long-term programs for families. And psychiatrist, lecturer and writer Pablo Martínez Vila analyses the situation of the family from the social point of view, where it is seen how the new paradigms affect our thinking”, explained to Spanish news website Protestante Digital, Juan Varela, president of the Family Group of the AEE.