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Madrid! We’re in Madrid! 
And I’m like a giddy school-girl: I love our neighborhood (La Latina: cobblestone streets and wrought iron balconies galore, rapidly gentrifying, slightly sketchy – think New York City’s Lower East Side five or six years ago); I love madrileños (so friendly, and almost painfully attractive); I love that a great bottle of wine costs 3€ (about US$500. Just kidding. But seriously, what’s up the dollar?). Most of all, I love the stylish older couples that hit the bar scene right along with the dapper young-folk. That’s right, unlike in the U.S., life in Madrid doesn’t appear to end after 30.
Now back to work. Last night, we did our first interview with a Spanish young professional. It was 7:30 p.m., we were exhausted, and it wasn’t even near dinner time (9-11 p.m. here). But our first interviewee, a stylish 31-year-old working in international development, livened things up.
Surprise #1: Though Spain provides very progressive and generous benefits to their employees relative to the U.S. (paid sick leave, 2.5 paid vacation days per month, 4 months of paid maternity leave, 2 weeks of paid paternity leave), employers can get around these benefits by hiring workers on a limited contract. In our interviewee’s field (which is new and attracts lots of motivated young people), companies can hire people for the duration of the project, say two to six months, and thus avoid providing benefits.
Surprise #2: Despite the progressive laws regarding employee benefits and gender equality in the workforce, cultural expectations and norms don’t appear to be very different from those in the U.S. When we asked our interviewee if she thinks work-life balance (meaning having a successful career and a successful family life) is realistic, she responded, “I think it’s very difficult, but I’ll try to do it. I think it’s easier for men. Because culturally, it’s his role...If a man works all day and then goes to bed and gives the sleeping kids a kiss, “hasta mañana!,” society says that’s okay. But for a mother, it’s very difficult to do this.”
Sigh. I’m going to need more wine.
- Vetta
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