Royal Decree 957/2026 of 4 November, implementing the legal framework governing the financial benefit for caring for children with cancer or another serious illness under the Spanish Social Security system.
New rules have been approved governing the financial benefit for caring for children with cancer or another serious illness. The Royal Decree was published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE) on 5 November 2026 and will enter into force two months after its publication.
The rules have a clear purpose: to compensate for the loss of income suffered by parents, prospective adoptive parents and permanent foster carers who need to reduce their working hours, with the corresponding reduction in salary, in order to provide direct, continuous and permanent care for children in their care who are affected by cancer or another serious illness during hospitalisation or ongoing treatment.
The rules apply to all schemes within the Spanish Social Security system. Civil servants are excluded and will continue to be governed by Article 49(e) of the Basic Statute of Public Employees (EBEP), together with the other applicable civil service regulations.
Protected circumstances and equivalent situations. The benefit applies where working hours are reduced in order to care for a child affected by cancer or another serious illness, in accordance with Article 37.6, third paragraph, of the Spanish Workers’ Statute.
The cancer or other serious illness affecting the child, who is deemed to be the person giving rise to entitlement to the benefit, must require hospitalisation or an equivalent situation.
The following are regarded as equivalent situations:
- Hospital care at home.
- Outpatient or ongoing treatment.
- Home care arising from specialised and complex therapies.
- Complex home care which, on medical advice, must be provided directly, continuously and permanently and does not fall within any of the situations described above.
For any of these circumstances to be recognised as an equivalent situation, the following conditions must be met:
- The situation must be certified by a medical declaration expressly stating that the treatment or care provided does not require hospital admission.
- The absence of hospital admission must not be due to a reduced need for care, but rather to clinical, therapeutic or organisational criteria within the healthcare system.
The rules also address the child’s attendance at school. School attendance is compatible with receipt of the benefit where the need for direct, continuous and permanent care persists. This must be certified by a primary or specialist care doctor from the public health service, using Annex II to the Royal Decree.
Eligible beneficiaries. As a general rule, employees, self-employed workers and persons treated as such may qualify for this financial benefit provided that they reduce their working hours by at least 50% and can demonstrate the required minimum contribution period.
The Royal Decree also expressly addresses a range of other circumstances, including cases involving two working parents or carers, single-parent families, and the spouse or civil partner of the person giving rise to entitlement to the benefit. It also specifically regulates special employment circumstances under Article 9, including simultaneous employment under different Social Security schemes, multiple employment and part-time work, as well as situations involving multiple potential beneficiaries under Article 8.
