The number of people who are unemployed and receiving benefits in Belgium decreased to the lowest level in years in December 2021, mainly due to the stricter measures in place to access such schemes.
During the last month of 2021, 280,364 unemployed people were entitled to receive benefits, which is 35,817 fewer than in the same month in 2020, equating to a decrease of 11.3%, according to figures from the National Employment Office (RVA), published on Thursday.
People receiving unemployment benefits in Belgium have to be actively searching for work. Exemptions are made for non-job-seeking fully unemployed, but various measures have been implemented by the government in recent years to limit both their access, as well as overall access to these schemes, which explains why the number is gradually decreasing.
The largest decrease was reported in Flanders (-16%), followed by Wallonia (-10%) and the Brussels-Capital Region, where the number of unemployed people receiving compensation decreased by 6.7%.
Of the total figure, more than 80% of people became unemployed following full-time employment, while around 8% was relying on compensation after their studies. Just under 6% is on protection benefits, while around 4% became redundant after voluntary part-time employment.
In the last month of last year, more than a quarter of fully unemployed on benefits had been unemployed for less than one year, while more than 15% had this status for between one and less than two years. Finally, more than half (55.6%) had been without a job for two years or more.
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When comparing on a gender-based level, the RVA found that the total unemployment rate decreased faster for women (-11,9%) than for men (-10,9%).
An improvement was also seen among younger people, as full-time unemployment for those under the age of 25 dropped by more than one-fifth.
Temporary unemployment dropped
In 2021, the number of people on temporary unemployment dropped by 37% on an annual basis, however, the number slightly increased in December in comparison with November last year.
According to figures from the HR service provider SD Worx published on Tuesday, nearly one in five workers in Belgium was affected by temporary unemployment due to the coronavirus crisis in 2021.
However, the share of people in temporary unemployment halved compared to the previous year, as in 2020, this figure sat at 40% of all employees surveys versus 18% in 2021.
Although there is a general decrease in these figures, many sectors are still struggling with a worrying number of employees in temporary unemployment, SD Worx noted.
Especially hit the hardest were the sectors where teleworking is not an option, and which were at times forced to close up shop due to the measures in place, including contact professions such as hairdressers and beauty specialists, fitness centres, the events and aviation sector.
