Belgium has significantly more so-called inactive people than job seekers, according to a comparison of the labour market of 20 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, various Belgian media report on Monday.
Belgium has 1,371,667 inactive persons in the 25-64 age group. They are mainly people with health insurance, early pensioners or beneficiaries of social integration income.
Only five countries - Mexico, Italy, South Korea, Greece and Poland - have more inactive people, according to the study.
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The number of inactive people is “six times more than the official number of unemployed,” said Stijn Baert of the University of Ghent. "If we want to maintain the viability of social security, we need to activate this group.”
Baert called on the authorities to focus not only on the unemployed, "who are only the tip of the iceberg,” but to focus fully on the much larger group of "inactive people.”
The Brussels Times
