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Spanish families continue to be close to there children and may live at
home for longer than northern Europeans
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“Too lazy to earn a living” is how one Spanish judge
described a 23-year-old woman who requested she could continue to receive
financial assistance from her parents.
While the woman in question lost her cases, these cases
became common in Spain after the credit crunch and double-dip recession of
2008. It all left many young Spaniards forced to either return home to their
parents, or just not leave the nest in the first place in order to keep a roof
over their heads.
When you throw in the Spanish culture, which is one where
young people will stay with their parents for much longer than people from
other European countries, and you have a cocktail of resentment, lost
opportunities, and the cases mentioned above – where young Spanish people are
considered to be apathetic and lazy.
It looks like things could soon be changing as the economy
of Spain continues to improve, the job market is strengthening, and mortgages
are becoming more affordable and available.
As Spain puts a high value on strong family bonds, it’s not
an uncommon sight to see young Spaniards live at home until their late 20s.
However, the recession saw people in their 30s living with their parents – a
situation that left all parties involved dealing with a lot of frustration.
Eurostat suggests that the average of Spaniards leave their homes is 29 – which is nine years later than the average Swede and still above
the EU average of 28. Spanish laws have always decreed that parents need to
provide for their offspring until their children reach a state of economic
dependence and are able to fend for themselves.
This vague law features no upper age limit and it’s been
taken advantage of a number of times, but there are some exceptions, such as
the recent Cantabrian case. The judge in that case exercised the caveat that
the law doesn’t apply when the behaviour of a child prevents them from being
able to live their lives properly, such as being lazy or being unwilling to
seek their own independence.
The economic situation of today has improved greatly,
meaning many young Spaniards are running out of excuses for not being
independent. This is good news across the long-term as the young Spaniards that
are becoming independent today will provide an additional boost to the economy,
as well as ease the tensions with their parents generated by living together
too long.
The Spanish also place a high value on higher education,
with most Spaniards in their 20s still in some form of full-time education.
