At the end of last year they announced that child poverty in our country was more noticeable in single-parent families, whose assistance from the public administration is much lower than other European countries.
But there are communities that are already starting to put solutions, in the case of Catalonia, which as of 2008, it will issue an official single parent family card, after the approval of the decree to help the families of the Catalan Government, which will grant the same advantages and benefits that large families have.
Single-parent families (mother or father, with children who depend exclusively on their income) are not recognized as “family” for some administrations, such as Social Security, but this new identification will accredit them as such, avoiding “disorder” in the instances public. Since 2004, single-parent families in Catalonia with children under 6 receive annual financial assistance from the Catalan Government for 700 euros, as do large families, but they do not have the same advantages in other concepts, such as school scholarships, discounts on water bills, etc.
The single-parent families are increasing, in ten years they have grown by more than 40%, in addition, most single-parent families are made up of the mother and the child, with the female sector having the highest unemployment rate. If nothing is done about it, poverty in these families would continue to rise.
Regarding the decree, it is still in the drafting phase and it is not easy, since a single parent family consisting of a parent and a child is not the same as a parent with two, three children or more. They should also worry about possible fraud, but in the end, single-parent families resident in Catalonia, next year they will receive a card that will identify them and provide them with more help. Do you think they are enough?
