More than half of 18 to 34 year olds in Spain have a very close relationship with their parents, according to a new study by the Social Observatory of La Caixa Foundation. 

Specifically, 56.6 percent of Spaniards responded that they are “very close” to their parents, compared to the EU average of 37.9 percent.

Only the Portuguese come close in terms of this emotional proximity between parents and children.

The intensity of intergenerational relationships in Spain also stands out. While 49.2 percent of the EU’s young population interacts with their parents at least once a day, in Spain 70.6 percent of young adults make sure they speak to or see their folks on a daily basis.

“This may be due to the late age of emancipation of young Spaniards. While in the EU as a whole young people become independent  on average at 26.4 years of age, in Spain they do so at 30.3 years of age,” the report states.

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However, the report’s conclusions show that even among young Spaniards who’ve left the nest at a more normal age by global standards, relationships with their families remain close-knit.

The findings are perhaps less of a surprise for foreigners in Spain who see how Spanish parents tend to have a propensity to ‘spoil’ or help out their kids.

This can go from packing their adult children lunch in a Tupperware every day before they head to work, to paying for their studies so they don’t have to take out a loan or helping them get on the property ladder by buying them a flat.

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Can young Spaniards be blamed for embracing such a degree of pampering, keeping in mind the chronically high level of youth unemployment, their low wages and rising living costs? 

Researcher and co-author of the study Joan Verd has warned that this generosity from parents to offspring “replaces the resources that the State does not offer”.

“In other European countries the State makes much more determined policies to support youth, in southern Europe they do not exist or are much smaller. 

“The family replaces the State”, Verd concluded.

In his eyes, this tight family-orientated trend causes greater dependency among young Spaniards, which ends up meaning they cannot count on other sources of material and emotional support.

Ultimately, they’re more vulnerable compared to their EU counterparts and if they have “a poor personal relationship with parents or a disadvantaged family background” they tend to have no safety network, the researchers found.

Family is clearly ‘everything’ to the average Spaniard and close relationships with loved ones have helped millions in this country to get you through difficult times, to the point where it’s part of the national identity.

However, as the study suggests, many young people are almost ‘forced’ to get on well with their parents in order to ensure they get a leg up financially as they have “no secondary network” to call on. 

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