An American woman living abroad has used TikTok to show what it’s like to be a working mother in the United States, compared to her current home country of Spain.
Emily San Jose, born in Oregon and living in Madrid with her Spanish husband, stepson and two young children, exposed four major differences in motherhood in the two countries in a 90-second video she shared earlier this month.
The recruiter and HR professional, who first moved to Spain in 2013 to work as an au pair, admitted: “I get this question all the time,” referring to how the experience of being a working mother in Spain differs from those in the United States.
First of all, she explained, Spanish companies are legally obliged to give everyone at least 22 days of annual leave.
Emily San Jose, born in Oregon and living in Madrid with her Spanish husband, stepson and two children, has listed four major differences between motherhood in the US and Spain
“Plus, Spain is a culture that really encourages you to make the most of all those days,” Emily added.
Secondly, Emily explained that “there is a lot more government support for families.”
She continued: Spain, for example, offers both new parents a generous 16 weeks of maternity and paternity leave.
“Plus, there are 15 additional breastfeeding days you can use in your child’s first year of life,” she said.
“Plus, if your child ever needs to go to the hospital, have surgery, or is really sick, you don’t have to use vacation or sick days to stay home and care for your kids. child.’
Third, Emily emphasized that hiring domestic help “is so much more affordable here. To have people come to your house to help you cook, clean and take care of the children. It is awesome.’
Finally, in Spain – or, in her observation, “maybe specifically in Madrid, because that’s where I had the most experience… women tend to have their children later in life,” she said.
“Which was super interesting for me, because being a mother of two children plus a bonus son at the age of thirty was a surprise to a lot of people,” Emily reflected on her two biological children with her husband and her stepson.
Emily met her current husband while working as an au pair in Spain in 2013
Emily married her husband in 2016 and had son Henry and daughter Carlota
As for Emily, after tying the knot with her husband in 2016, she welcomed son Henry and her daughter Carlota.
Emily isn’t the first American expat to share observations about how their new home abroad contrasts with the home they left behind in the United States.
A young man named Konner, from Hawaii, previously shared his amazement at how everyone in New Zealand has an electric boiler in the kitchen.
“It’s always on your counter and I absolutely love it because in America we literally have to use a kettle – we don’t have electric ones – which is always a hassle,” he said of the device.
In another case, a young woman named Tate Duane expressed her confusion about the common use of the word ‘keen’ in Australia.
‘I think it’s so funny. Like when people text ‘KEEEEEN’ when they’re so excited about something,” she noted.