Childcare in Spain: Strategies and Socioeconomic Determinants

Abstract

With 39.6 % of children under three years of age at nursery school in the school year of 2018-2019, Spain exceeded the 33 % recommended by the European Commission in 2002. Notwithstanding this figure, childcare for this age range from 0 to 3 years is neither free of charge nor universal, and the formal public offer varies considerably across the country. Faced with this limited accessibility, families resort to various strategies based on the available resources in order to manage their childcare needs. However, the existing data on these schemes are meagre and do not represent all the options. Also lacking is information about how families shape their strategies and the factors that influence their adoption of them. In this number of Perspectives Demogràfiques, which is published by the Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), we draw on the latest data available from the Spanish Fertility Survey (2018) to explore the sociodemographic profiles of mothers with children aged three years and under, and the childcare strategies they adopt. The results suggest that managing childcare requires a combination of several options, thus making it relevant to speak of care strategies. Although formal care is a fundamental resource, it is not always able to respond fully to family needs. Meanwhile, the strategies adopted vary in accordance with the characteristics of mothers, for example their family situation, relationship with the labour market, and whether or not they are immigrants, all of which demonstrates the importance of adapting approaches to care in keeping with each specific situation.