Belgium now has a lower proportion of women in work in comparison to the European Union average, research carried out by Ghent University has revealed.
According to the study, which was reported on by VRT, the rate of women in work in the country currently stands at 69%, an increase from 63% in 2015.
However, while Belgium was on a par with the EU average in 2015, the country has lagged behind its neighbours in the decade since. Across Europe, the employment rate of women now stands at 71%.
Low rate of employment among non-EU nationals
Stijn Baert, a professor of labour economics at Ghent University, explained to the Flemish public broadcaster that the reasons for Belgium's lower growth include comparatively high taxes, which penalise part-time work.
According to Baert, countries in Eastern and Southern Europe have also "caught up" with Belgium in terms of gender equality since 2015. "We lost that advantage over the past 10 years," he pointed out.
The university's study also found a particularly low rate of employment among women in Belgium who are nationals of non-EU countries. "This is due to discrimination, but also to educational attainment and personal socio-cultural choices," the researcher explained.
Scandinavian solutions?
More generally, the gender gap in employment rates across the continent is down to an unequal burden in childcare, the professor added. "Men’s and women’s careers follow the same path until children come along," he pointed out. "Caring responsibilities then automatically fall more heavily on women. You see this much less with fathers."
For Baert, Belgium should take inspiration from the 'Family Credit' system found in Scandinavian countries in order to bridge this gap. This model would involve pooling together the various types of parental leave into a single package, which could be shared between parents. The concept was included in the latest federal government agreement but has not led to concrete measures as of yet.
"This allows a genuine discussion to take place within the family about how to share the care," the Ghent professor added. "I hope that this measure will be introduced soon. I don’t think there is any reason to delay it."
Citing a separate study by Ghent University, Baert also argued that employers themselves could play an active role in organising childcare. "We demonstrated that both women and men would be willing to take a pay cut if their employer helped arrange childcare," the professor highlighted.
