I feel very fortunate to work for a Spanish company. Not only is it interesting having an international component to my job, but it’s also nice to have certain perks that we don’t always see here in the U.S. For example, my boss fully expected I would take at least three months of paid maternity leave when I had my kids, because that’s what everyone does in Spain. Neither he, nor any of his superiors would expect anything different. Then of course there’s the generous amount of vacation allowance, though I haven’t been able to take advantage of that much in the past couple of years.
After having spent the greater part of the past 5 months (since Nicole and I took over A Child Grows in January) working ’round the clock, trying to balance working a full-time job AND planning the Brooklyn Baby Expo, I decided to take advantage of a business trip to Spain and spend a few extra days on the front end visiting friends in Barcelona.
My first coffee upon arriving
I lived in Barcelona for nearly two years right after college, but I hadn’t been back in over 13 years and didn’t remember much about the city. I happened to be there during one of Europe’s biggest electronic music festivals (SONAR), so the streets and beaches were crowded with visitors from all over. My visions of tranquilly strolling along the Rambla de Catalunya and the Barceloneta were quickly dashed. Instead I was dodging cyclists and whole classes of Catalonian teens out on field trips. But in reality, I didn’t care. I was in Barcelona! Alone! I haven’t experienced freedom like that since before getting married.
Catalonian kids on a field trip to the Picasso Museum
To be honest, on the surface, raising kids in Barcelona is not so different from raising kids in Brooklyn. Aside of the four months of paid maternity leave that Spanish mothers are guaranteed by law, families struggle with the same issues there that we do here. Most families live in high-rise buildings, most siblings share a bedroom, some families own a car, others do not. They also have a shortage of preschools and childcare facilities just as we do, and sending kids to private schools or having a nanny eats up nearly the same percentage of their take-home pay as it does ours (Note: it’s actually a little cheaper than it is here in Brooklyn, but salaries are notoriously low in Spain, and most Spaniards spend a much higher percentage of their take-home pay on basic necessities – more than any other place in Europe, and definitely more than we do here in the U.S.)
Lactose and gluten-free are popular over there as well
So what about under the surface? Well…this is sort of a loaded question but after polling all of the friends with whom I spent time during this trip, I learned that most Spaniards have a genuine concern for the future of the country as a whole and the challenges middle class parents may be facing in retirement – and those their children may be facing as they come of age. Spaniards are currently entitled to a fairly generous government pension – one that takes up 42% of the country’s overall budget – as well as a (practically) free college education. Because most Spaniards’ income goes to paying basic living expenses, there is rarely anything left at the end of each month for savings. What happens when the Spanish pension system is cut in half (which most believe it eventually will be, over time)? What will young people do when universities start charging real money for tuition and they need to finance their education?
And what about the people who have been out of work for two years now and have been forced to move their families back to their parents’ home so that they can rent their own home to avoid having it repossessed by the bank? Did you know that a home owner in Spain cannot walk away from his/her mortgage the way that we can here in the U.S.? If a home owner is unable to make mortgage payments, the bank will repossess the home, yet the homeowner will STILL be liable for paying of the mortgage IN FULL! Therefore, people go to great lengths to avoid missing mortgage payments.
My friends in Barcelona and Madrid are all (thankfully) still gainfully employed, but if things get any worse in Spain, this could change for any or all of them. In fact, several of them are already looking to move to the U.S. or Canada within the coming year. With 27% unemployment overall in the country, it’s not surprising.
Additional, more uplifting chapters of this mini-travelogue to follow in the coming days. In the mean time, despite the fact that our country is far behind in implementing proper legislation regarding protected, paid maternity leave for all working mothers, perhaps we can be thankful that unemployment here is in the single digits and that the economic outlook in the near future is positive. Counting my blessings and looking forward to celebrating our independence day this week. – Kim