‘Shaping the Future: Social Protection and Support Systems for an Aging
World’ was held, organised by the Social Observatory of the ‘la Caixa’
Foundation and the World Bank with the aim of addressing the challenges of
social care in ageing from a multidimensional strategy..
The cheque bebé was a payment designed to incentivise the birth rate,
however its effect was limited. Although it helped some families to decide,
difficulty in reconciling work and motherhood has continued to be the main
obstacle to having more children.
Work-life balance policies that strengthen job stability can contribute to
increasing fertility by improving compatibility between work and
motherhood, but they also pose challenges for female recruitment.
Households in Spain and Portugal underwent significant change between 1991
and 2022. This report shows how the average household size has decreased,
the number of single-person households has increased, and shared living
structures have undergone transformation according to age and gender.