Thursday, the annual report of the research centre for inequality, poverty, social exclusion and the City (OASeS) of the University of Antwerp points out that almost one child in five under 18 in Belgium (18.8%) lives below the poverty line, against 15.9% ten years ago. Researchers claim how unfair this is. Researchers mention that this proportion rises to 36.4% among single-parent families and up to 53.8% for children whose parents are "uneducated". "In a wealthy country like Belgium, these figures are unfair, mainly because children living in poverty will carry this all their lives", reported the researchers.
Young people are also increasingly facing financial difficulties.
The risk of poverty among those aged 18-24 is approximately 18.8%, which shows an increase since 2008. The average monthly number of beneficiaries of the equivalent living wage has risen by 3.9% between 2013 and 2014, and by 5.1% among people under 25 years old.
Young people between 18 and 25 years old accounted for one third of the beneficiaries last year, while they represent 10.7% of the population.
(Source: Belga)
