Over 100,000 people at risk of losing benefits due to unemployment cap
More than 100,000 people will be affected by the government's decision to stop paying benefits to those who have been unemployed for more than two years, federal Work minister David Clarinval told De Standaard and Sudpresse.
Belgium is currently the only European country that does not limit the duration of unemployment benefits. Jobseekers are entitled to 65 per cent of their last salary, with an agreed upper and lower limit, which gradually decreases over time. The amounts depend on family situation and work history.
This is about to change, however, as the government has agreed to limit unemployment benefits to a maximum of two years. Anyone who has worked for at least one year in the last three years will be entitled to one year of unemployment benefit. Each additional four months of work will result in an additional month of unemployment benefit, with a maximum of two years. The measure does not apply for people over 55 with sufficiently long careers.
This change will affect many Belgians. Belgium has around 320,000 unemployed people under the age of 55, of whom 100,102 have been unemployed for more than two years. According to Clarinval, almost half of these people have been unemployed for more than five years, and more than 16,000 have not worked for a decade.
Of the 100,000 unemployed, almost half come from Wallonia (46,580) and about a quarter each from Flanders (26,656) and Brussels (26,866). "This has a lot to do with mentality," says Clarinval. "In Wallonia, there are unemployed people who celebrate their 20th year of unemployment. But unemployment is not a career."
"In Wallonia, there are unemployed people who celebrate their 20th year of unemployment"
The government is working out transitional measures for those affected, Clarinval said. CD&V and Vooruit also want to extend the limit for people undergoing training for bottleneck jobs. They argue that many of these training programmes take three to four years to complete.
Limiting unemployment benefits is a key part of the government's plan to reduce Belgium's budget deficit. The measure is expected to save 902 million euros next year, rising to 1.9 billion euros by 2029, the end of the government's term.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration BELGA PHOTO THIERRY ROGE
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