Making ends meet is not easy for many households and even more so now with the increasing price rise. But the challenge is multiplied when not two or three live at home, but twelve. The Puche Martínez family, with ten children, is proof of this, where they have to make authentic bobbin lace to make ends meet.
In a report broadcast by the regional channel ‘La 7’, the parents have explained how all the expenses fit with the available income. “Our two salaries add up to 4,000 euros, we spend 1,500 on food and receive an annual aid of 1,200,” he says. These bills, they say, are what determine their daily lives, since they also have to have housing, school, clothing, supplies and, above all, food. Come on, the essential day-to-day expenses.
The logistical part is evident, but the economic impact is direct. In a house with children of different ages, each meal becomes a team operation and, at the same time, a fixed expense that is difficult to adjust. “There are 12 of us for snack, breakfast and dinner,” they say in the report. And they add the fact that best explains the magnitude of the monthly budget: “On food alone we are spending close to 1,500 euros.”
As they explain, it is a disbursement that is stable due to the need to cover breakfasts, snacks, dinners and complete menus, with children in the growing stage. At this rate, the margin for unforeseen events or small non-essential purchases is reduced to a minimum.
The family has also detailed what support they receive due to their status as a large family. “We have also applied a social bonus, with which we have a small discount,” they explain. However, they consider that the financial support does not compensate for the volume of expenses borne by a home with ten dependent children.
The aid they refer to translates, as they indicate, into a contribution that does not even cover a full month of purchases. “With them we cover all fixed expenses,” they point out when talking about total monthly income. In practice, your economy depends on balancing each item and prioritizing, because any deviation is immediately noticeable.
Among the complicated months, the family especially points out January, when holiday expenses accumulate and the return to routine. After the Christmas disbursement, it is time to adjust the budget and return to stricter day-to-day control. “This month we are trying to return to the routine little by little (…) We have to organize ourselves by being responsible with what we have month by month,” they acknowledge.
This planning, they say, involves reducing “whims” for a few weeks to ensure the basics: food, bills, and everything that involves maintaining the daily life of twelve people within a domestic economy that cannot afford major shocks.
The case of the Puche Martínez is within a reality, since the decrease in the birth rate and the general increase in prices have changed family decisions, while large families face a cost of living that is especially sensitive to rising prices. In Spain, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 placed the number of registered large families at around 818,585 in 2023, with a predominance of households with three children, although there are also exceptional cases such as that of this family from Murcia, with ten minors.