The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration released for public consultation last June a new regulation to reform the CUME benefit, aimed at those who reduce their working hours to care for children affected by cancer or another serious illness. The Government defended that the update of the regime in force since 2011 would allow for broader protection, incorporate new medical and family realities, and reduce administrative burdens.
However, the draft provoked rejection from caregiver family associations, especially ASFACUME, which submitted objections considering that certain changes could hinder access or the continuity of the benefit. The association demanded to maintain as the core of the CUME the need for "continuous, direct, and permanent care," avoid new bureaucratic obstacles, standardize its application, and reduce conflicts with the collaborating mutuals of Social Security. The controversy is not alien to parliamentary groups, which will bring the families' demands to the next government control session in Congress.
in detail
The CUME is a Social Security benefit that compensates for the loss of income of those who reduce their working hours by at least 50% to care directly, continuously, and permanently for a child or minor in their charge with cancer or another serious illness, such as heart diseases, cystic fibrosis, chronic kidney failure, severe epilepsies, or neuromuscular diseases.
The subsidy covers 100% of the corresponding regulatory base, in proportion to the reduction of working hours. Generally, it protects minors under 18 years old, although there are exceptions that allow for its extension, and when both parents are entitled only one can receive it. Its maintenance is conditioned on the persistence and medical accreditation of the need for care.
It is not enough
The criticisms of the first draft led Inclusion to sit down with caregiver family associations and accept part of their objections. After that process, Elma Saiz's department announced changes aimed at facilitating the continuity of the CUME and reducing some of the burdens that had caused greater rejection. The minister has defended that the goal is to expand protection and has guaranteed that "no one is going to lose the benefit" as a consequence of the new regulation.
Among the announced modifications, primary care doctors will be able to issue the necessary documentation for extensions, a possibility that was initially in the hands of specialists. It will also expressly include the compatibility of the CUME with the training practices of the person responsible and will specify the care that allows considering a situation as akin to a long-term hospital admission. The Ministry also plans to review the application form to avoid doubts in its interpretation.
However, the approach has not closed all the differences. Families still demand a mediation mechanism that allows resolving conflicts with the mutuals without having to go to court and a response for those who continue to need intensive care once they have surpassed the maximum age covered by the benefit. They also request broader protection against possible withdrawals of the CUME linked to the schooling or training of the sick person, so that their attendance at an educational center is not interpreted by itself as a disappearance of the need for care.
Increased pressure
Despite the corrections announced by the ministry, the controversy surrounding the CUME remains open and will reach parliamentary control this week. The Government will also have to respond to one of its partners: Aina Vidal (Sumar) will ask the Executive if it considers the claims made by the associations of beneficiary families of the benefit "fair".
Also, the PNV will increase the pressure on the minister in charge, Elma Saiz. The deputy Idoia Sagastizabal will directly ask her "When is the Government going to fulfill its obligations to caregiver families?", after Congress already demanded this year, at the initiative of the Basque nationalists, changes in the regulation of the CUME.
Protection for civil servants
Apart from the reform of the CUME benefit of the Social Security, the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function is processing another Royal Decree to develop the leave for caring for children affected by cancer or another serious illness provided for in article 49.e) of the Basic Statute of Public Employees. This second regulation specifically targets civil servants of the State Administration and aims to bring their reconciliation regime closer to that existing in the labor field. It is in public hearing and the deadline for submitting allegations ends this Tuesday.
The project establishes a minimum reduction of 50% of the workday that may reach 99%, depending on care needs, and will allow it to be accumulated in full days when the daily reduction is insufficient. It also regulates the alternation between parents, expressly contemplates single-parent families, and establishes a period of 15 business days to resolve requests, with positive administrative silence. The text was submitted to public hearing and information on July 31, 2026 and is still a project, so these measures should not be considered approved.
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