The number of students who worked at least one day last year surpassed the half-million mark for the first time and reached 502,297, a 5% increase from 2015. Employers paid a total of $ 885 million (+8.5% compared to the previous year) according to figures from the National Social Security Office (ONSS) that were reported on Monday.
The number of employers employing student workers has also increased to 56,607 employers, an increase of 4.9% from 2015.
The number of days declared in the context of student work followed the same trend. More than 11.7 million days were reported in 2016, an increase of 6.5% compared to the previous year. It should be noted that the working days declared last year do not always correspond to full working days since contributions of a few hours were also declared as days.
In 2016, student workers worked 23.4 days on average with one or two employers and earned 1,762 euros. This amount is the gross amount for which social contributions are due at a rate of 2.71% but is not subject to tax if it is the only income that the student has.
The percentage of students who worked only during the summer decreased from 37% in 2012 (year of student work flexibility) to 27% last year. At the same time, the rate of active students all year round rose from 12% in 2012 to 18% in 2016.
From 1 January 2017, the time during which students are allowed work in reduced social occupations increased from 50 days to 475 hours per year.
The Brussels Times
