2023-12-28 08:38:00
Having a job does not guarantee a life free from insecurity. This is what we can deduce from the recent study carried out by Iweps (Walloon institute of statistics) on employment and standard of living. “Work does not always protect once morest poverty, although it generally does. There are poor workers whose number is not negligible since it is quite close to that of recipients,” explain the Iweps researchers.
The figures highlighted by the institute reveal that, “among people declaring that they can very difficultly make ends meet in Belgium, it is estimated that there are around 19% workers (±150,000 people)”. There are also 14% pensioners (±110,000 people), 21% children under 16 (±160,000 people), 9% students (±70,000 people), 8% homemakers (±60,000 people), 13% of people incapacitated for work (±100,000 people), 9% of unemployed (±70,000 people) and 8% of other inactive people (including people in the CPAS, ±60,000 people).
If we analyze this difficulty in closing a budget according to the region where the respondents live, we see that they are most numerous in Brussels. 16% say they have “very difficulty” in closing their budget and 19% say they have “difficult” time in closing their budget. In Wallonia, they are 10% in the first category and 13% in the second. In Flanders, 3% experience very great difficulties and 7% experience difficulties.
Thirteen material deprivations
Another indicator is highlighted by this study: that of material deprivation. “Currently, the most used indicator of deprivation is that of material and social deprivation. A person is considered to be in a situation of material and social deprivation if they do not have the financial means to afford at least five of the following thirteen items” – paying rent, mortgage, housing charges or utilities on time. consumer credits; heat your home properly; have enough savings to be able to cover an unexpected expense of around 1,300 euros; eat protein every other day; go on vacation for a week once a year (not necessarily abroad); replace worn or damaged furniture; to have a car ; have two pairs of shoes; replace worn clothes with new ones; meet up with friends for dinner or drinks once a month; regularly participate in leisure activities (sport, cinema, etc.); spend a small amount of money on yourself every week and have personal access to the internet at home. “In Belgium, in 2022, it is estimated that around 9.5% of the population lived in a situation of material and social deprivation. Deprivation items have a varied frequency in the population,” we explain to Iweps.
In Flanders, nearly 30,000 job seekers have been unemployed for more than five years
The most important deprivation concerns building up savings since 23% of Belgians cannot do so. Next come the annual vacation week (21%) and replacing worn furniture (14%). The least frequent deprivations, however, are access to the internet at home (1% of Belgians are deprived of it), having two pairs of shoes (2%), eating proteins every other day (4% ) and heating (5%).
Other important factors of precariousness are taken into account in this Iweps study. they concern the profession exercised, the level of study or even the composition of the household. It is no real surprise to note that it is, for example, the so-called “elementary” professions (handlers, laborers, garbage collectors, kitchen helpers) who are the worst off. It is the workers in these sectors who experience the most material and social deprivation – 17% of them declare this. Conversely, managers (0% deprivation), intellectual professions (1%) and administrative employees (3%) seem much better off.
The level of diploma is also very revealing of the difficulty or not in making ends meet. Holders of a lower secondary education diploma have more difficulty making ends meet and are faced with wider material and social deprivations.
Finally, the composition of the household is also an important element. Indeed, without any real surprise, a single person has much more difficulty making ends meet – more than 60% of them declare this – than other types of households (couples and families with children).
The working poor live “better” than poor recipients
Iweps concludes, among other things, that “working poverty depends as much on job insecurity as on non-work factors. Among the factors of job insecurity, we can cite low-skilled professions, low qualifications and limited-term contracts. Among non-work factors, they mainly relate to the composition of the household, such as being a single parent, being isolated or having a spouse who does not work.
In its conclusion, the institute further states that “if we compare poor recipients to poor workers, it seems that the former live in (slightly) more difficult situations than the latter. “Even if this result seems less robust due to the significant correlations between indicators, this means that the various advantages that social welfare recipients can benefit from do not seem to allow them to overcome the situation of the working poor.”
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