Nearly 1.3 million people aged between 25-64 in Belgium do not have a job, and perhaps strikingly, are not looking for one either.
Several years ago, the Federal Government said it aimed to get 80% of the active population working to pay for social security and, above all, pensions, but the country currently only stands at 75.4% – a bit below the EU average of 76.7%.
"The Belgian labour market's major problem is not unemployment, which is below the European average, but high inactivity," said Stijn Baert, Professor of Labour Economics (UGent). "1,267,000 people aged between 25 and 64 in our country are neither working nor looking for work."
This group is called the 'inactive' population, which is not the same as the "regular" group of unemployed people.
What sets the inactive population apart is the fact that they are not looking for a job: discouraged unemployed people (who also no longer receive benefits), housewives and househusbands, long-term sick people, students or people who have retired before the age of 64.
Are you looking for a job? Why (not)? Let @Maajtee know.
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