Single-Parent Families in Spain Below the EU Average — 7.5% of Households with Children

Single-parent families in Spain make up 7.5% of all households with children — around 372,800 families. This is below the European Union average, where one in eight families with children is a single-parent household (12.9%). The figures come from Eurostat in a report published to mark World Parents' Day, observed on 1 June.

Across the EU as a whole, there are around 6.1 million single-parent families. In 81.6% of cases they are headed by a woman, and in 18.4% by a man. In 60% of such families one child is being raised, in 31% two, and in 9% three or more.

The highest proportion of single-parent families was recorded in the Baltic states. In Estonia, four in ten families with children are single-parent households — 40.6%. It is followed by Lithuania (32.7%) and Latvia (28.5%). At the other end of the scale are Slovakia (3.1%), Greece (3.8%), and Slovenia (4%). Spain, at 7.5%, sits towards the lower part of the list.

Over the past nine years, the proportion of single-parent families in the EU has grown, especially in the 25-to-54 age group. In 2025, single mothers made up 5.5% in this category, against 1.1% for single fathers.

Eurostat also assessed employment across all families with children. In 39.1% of such households in the EU, all the adults work; in 22.2%, at least one is employed part-time. 7.8% of children aged 0 to 17 live in families where no one works. This figure has fallen by 2% over nine years. It is highest in Romania (16.4%), Belgium (11.9%), and France (10.3%).