Brussels women less keen to work outdoors?


Johan Leman, 15 April 2023

In a recent interview, the Brussels employment minister stated that the employment rate of women is lower than that of men, despite a higher level of education. This is true everywhere in Belgium, but the difference is greatest in the Brussels region – 10 per cent – closely followed by Hainaut, with 9.5 per cent. The explanation he gave for this was unfortunate and received criticism. But the issue nevertheless deserves reflection.

A first question is what is meant here by a higher level of education for women? Does it mean, for instance, families where the mother has completed secondary education and the father has not completed his secondary? Or does it refer to other proportions? It would be interesting to find out.

Assuming one has an answer to that first question, any one, then a next question becomes how best to interpret such a thing? I think one has to be careful not to culturalise too quickly. Especially when another explanation is more obvious. For instance, everyone knows that for a woman with, say, 3 children, who applies for a job in the welfare or broader social sector on the basis of a secondary school diploma, it will at most yield 200 euros net per month more for the family than if she did not work. Those 200 euros immediately disappear into insignificance if, because of her job, she has to pay for a crèche to take care of the children, and then, as someone pointed out to me on my fb, loses other things as well, such as free tickets for public transport, social rate gas and electricity for the children, preferential healthcare arrangements.

Of course, in addition to that, there is also the legitimate concern, again raised by someone on my fb, whether the community might not be helped more by the fact that the status as not working makes it better livable for the women in question and that they are therefore able to follow their children better , which in turn could mean something positive for society? But that applies equally well to her husband today, isn’t it?

Personally, I think that raising by at least €500 net per month this kind of low wages would be an important element to have the discussion in pure terms.

But it would be good if an administration and policy were to develop a clear and transparent vision around this for once.

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