Poverty continues to rise in Spain, not only in magnitude but also across age groups. One in three children in the country lives at risk of exclusion, meaning that child poverty reaches 33.8% of those under 18 years of age.
This scenario coincides with the loss of purchasing power among Spanish families and a rise in prices that strains their wallets. In this context, a study by the Foundation for Applied Economic Studies (Fedea), prepared by economists José Ignacio Conde-Ruiz and Maria Alejandra Garay Aguirre, titled “Children, Life Cycle, and Poverty in Spain: 2008–2025,” warns that the gap “suggests that households with children face greater economic difficulties than the population average.” Furthermore, they report that in 2025, 19.5% of the general population was at risk of monetary poverty, representing approximately 9.48 million people.
Going into detail, it is relevant to distinguish the multidimensional exclusion indicator (33.8%) from the child monetary poverty rate, which stood at 28.3%. While the latter assesses income insufficiency in the household, the AROPE indicator (33.8%) exposes material deprivation in daily life.
Exclusion data place Spain “clearly above the European Union average, which stands at 19.3%.” In 2024, the country topped the European Union list by recording the highest rate of child social exclusion risk, at 29.2% compared to the community average.
According to the study, the root of this problem does not lie in parental labor inactivity. On the contrary, low employment intensity is higher in households without children (10.7%) than in those with dependents (6.6%). The true cause lies in the specific costs associated with raising children in the country.
When comparing households similar in income, employment, and sociodemographic characteristics, “the presence of minor children is associated with a 1.15 percentage point increase in the probability of suffering severe material and social deprivation.”
The researchers state that this “introduces specific expenditure needs and additional restrictions that are not fully captured by equivalent income.” Moreover, they reveal that households with children record a gross material deprivation gap of 2.59 percentage points compared to those without children.
Meanwhile, 42.6% of this differential is explained by variables such as education level or employment, while 57.4% of the gap remains unexplained, a component that, according to the authors, “is consistent with the existence of specific costs, needs, and restrictions related to child-rearing that are not fully accounted for.”
This penalty, however, shows a strong inequality in which the presence of children in young households (with parents under 30 years old) increases the probability of falling into severe material deprivation by 7.26 percentage points.
Furthermore, the authors conclude that “the penalty associated with having children is between six and ten times greater in young households than in those of middle or advanced age.” This is because the arrival of children coincides with the start of their professional careers, which are characterized by low wages and instability.
The decision of thousands of couples to postpone or give up parenthood due to the inability to bear these costs leads to an acceleration of population aging in the country. The study confirms that family structure is a determining factor, identifying single-parent households as the most vulnerable group, with an exclusion rate of 50.3% and a monetary poverty rate of 41.2%.
In light of this, the researchers suggest reformulating public policies, criticizing the fact that the Spanish system relies excessively on regressive tax deductions that benefit middle- and high-income earners.
