# Social welfare in Spain



## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Hi, 

I'm a 20 year old university student in Cork moving to alicante August as part of my degree for 9 months. As I'm also a single mother to a 1 year old boy(who will be coming also), I'm entitled to one parent family payment here in Ireland. Does anyone know if I would be entitled to anything in Spain as Spain is also in the EU and I'm going for education reasons not for a long holiday. Any help or contacts would be appreciated as I don't know where to start off with enquiring as if I go into the welfare department here in Cork I'm afraid they will just brush me aside. Thanks!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Leanne7011 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm a 20 year old university student in Cork moving to alicante August as part of my degree for 9 months. As I'm also a single mother to a 1 year old boy(who will be coming also), I'm entitled to one parent family payment here in Ireland. Does anyone know if I would be entitled to anything in Spain as Spain is also in the EU and I'm going for education reasons not for a long holiday. Any help or contacts would be appreciated as I don't know where to start off with enquiring as if I go into the welfare department here in Cork I'm afraid they will just brush me aside. Thanks!


no - there's nothing like that at all here in Spain - not for anyone - although I'm not 100% sure about students - maybe speak to the uni you'll be coming to here or the uni you're attending atm??

I get tax breaks as a single parent/widow , but that's because I work - the unemployed get a flat payment each month & even that stops after a couple of years - & they have to have actually have been employed to get it in the first place

the 'social welfare' system in Spain is completely different to Ireland - and tbh is pretty much non-existent


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2013)

Your only option is to go in to your local welfare office to find out what your options are. 

Otherwise I'm pretty confident you will receive nothing here. The gulf between the Irish welfare state and the Spanish welfare state is so indescribable I daren't try.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> no - there's nothing like that at all here in Spain - not for anyone - although I'm not 100% sure about students - maybe speak to the uni you'll be coming to here or the uni you're attending atm??
> 
> I get tax breaks as a single parent/widow , but that's because I work - the unemployed get a flat payment each month & even that stops after a couple of years - & they have to have actually have been employed to get it in the first place
> 
> the 'social welfare' system in Spain is completely different to Ireland - and tbh is pretty much non-existent


Wow, so different to here. Ok thank you, I'll contact my UNI, I best start saving!


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Ya, I will, thank you. They tend to just brush people aside, that's why I posted here first. Thanks for your help.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Leanne7011 said:


> Ya, I will, thank you. They tend to just brush people aside, that's why I posted here first. Thanks for your help.



Whilst sympathising with you, I think it's fair to point out that it is unrealistic to expect the average poorly-paid and undertrained Social Security office clerk to possess detailed knowledge of what benefits are and aren't payable throughout the European Union, especially as entitlements vary according to individual circumstances.

It's a bit like some people in Spain complaining that the clerks in some official office or other in some village in the middle of nowhere don't speak English!
As if their counterpart in Twopenny Handley would speak Spanish.....

To return to your circumstances...most transferable benefits depend on having racked up sufficient contributions and some, like UK Child Benefit, aren't transferable at all. Some EU states simply don't have some of the benefits common in the wealthier western states, Housing Benefit being one example.

So sadly, I think it unlikely you'd get help from the Spanish state which already pays out to almost six million unemployed. The best route may well be as suggested, to contact your University as there may be study grants and bursaries available and they will have advisors there who should know what help you may be able to get.


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

Leanne7011 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm a 20 year old university student in Cork moving to alicante August as part of my degree for 9 months. As I'm also a single mother to a 1 year old boy(who will be coming also), I'm entitled to one parent family payment here in Ireland. Does anyone know if I would be entitled to anything in Spain as Spain is also in the EU and I'm going for education reasons not for a long holiday. Any help or contacts would be appreciated as I don't know where to start off with enquiring as if I go into the welfare department here in Cork I'm afraid they will just brush me aside. Thanks!


I think you're going to get a nasty shock. Ireland has some of the most generous social welfare in the world. In Spain, most of the benefits available in Ireland just don't exist. Unemployment benefit is much lower and you can only be on it for a certain amount of time before it expires. If you're coming here to study, you need to be self-sufficient. Are you coming as part of the Erasmus programme? You should get a grant from your Irish university for that, at least.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Whilst sympathising with you, I think it's fair to point out that it is unrealistic to expect the average poorly-paid and undertrained Social Security office clerk to possess detailed knowledge of what benefits are and aren't payable throughout the European Union, especially as entitlements vary according to individual circumstances.
> 
> It's a bit like some people in Spain complaining that the clerks in some official office or other in some village in the middle of nowhere don't speak English!
> As if their counterpart in Twopenny Handley would speak Spanish.....
> ...


Thank you, I was just looking to confirm what I've been previously told. I will contact my university. Thanks again.


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## Leanne7011 (Jan 4, 2013)

Clemmie00 said:


> I think you're going to get a nasty shock. Ireland has some of the most generous social welfare in the world. In Spain, most of the benefits available in Ireland just don't exist. Unemployment benefit is much lower and you can only be on it for a certain amount of time before it expires. If you're coming here to study, you need to be self-sufficient. Are you coming as part of the Erasmus programme? You should get a grant from your Irish university for that, at least.


Yes, I'm coming on an Erasmus programme but different from other students, I've a baby that will be coming also. Therefore we can't live in student accommodation. Yes I get a grant of roughly 1000 euro, that would cover me for roughly 2 months max, depending on the cost of accommodation. I'm hoping my university can help me more on top of saving on my behalf. Thank you.


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