Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Spain (Ratification: 1985)

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) and the observations of the Spanish Confederation of Employers Organizations (CEOE) transmitted with the Government’s report. The Committee also notes the Government’s responses.

Article 4(b) of the Convention. Conditions of employment and social security. The Committee notes that the Government reports the adoption of Royal Decree No. 3/2021 of 2 February adopting measures to reduce the gender gap and other matters in the economic and social security fields, which replaces the “maternity supplement” (considered to be discriminatory by the European Court of Justice decision of 12 December 2019) by the “contributory pension supplement to reduce the gender gap”. The Government reports that the objective is to correct a pension situation that was structurally unjust in the case of women who assumed childcare responsibilities, and also to reduce the pension gender gap to less than 5 per cent. The number of children is taken as the criterion for the supplement, which is available to mothers and to fathers who can show that the assumption of childcare responsibilities at the birth or adoption of a child negatively impacted their regular contributions. The Committee observes the CCOO’s indication that there is a persistent gender gap in the social security system, partly due to the role of women as caregivers in the home and family environment, and that while work-related and social security measures for the protection of workers have contributed to narrowing the gap, more far-reaching measures should be taken to ensure effective equality at all levels of society. The Committee also notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the increased amounts of the childcare allowances for dependent children, for children with disabilities, for children in large or single-parent families, for mothers with disabilities, and for dependent adult children with disabilities, and the revision of the requirements for access to the allowances. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the creation of a “minimum subsistence income” benefit has been approved by Royal Decree No. 20/2020 of 29 May. The Government explains that entitlement to this benefit is incompatible with entitlement to the childcare allowances provided for persons with children without disabilities or with a disability of less than 33 per cent, and that the provision of the latter benefit ceased as of June 2020, as it is now covered by the minimum subsistence benefit. The Government also refers, in respect of financial benefits for children suffering from cancer or other serious diseases, to the wider range of diseases covered by this benefit, as well as a more flexible approach to the requirement for continuous review. The Committee takes due note of all the information provided and trusts that the application of the contributory pensions supplement and the minimum subsistence income will have the desired effect in reducing the gender gap. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this regard and on the number of persons, disaggregated by sex and family situation, who are in receipt of these benefits.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request made directly to the Government.