Due to inflation and economic uncertainty people living below the poverty line are finding it increasingly difficult. Figures from the new poverty barometer published today by Decennium Goals, the platform of poverty organisations in Flanders, show the number of people in Flanders living below the poverty line will more or less remain the same this year compared to 2022.
The barometer gauges the latest figures on poverty and income in Flanders annually. Various poverty organisations, trade unions and non-profit organisations compile the figures and statistics under the collective name Decennium Goals. In 2022, poverty in Flanders barely declined. Just over half a million Flemish people, some 7.7 per cent of the population, remained below the poverty line.
Deeper divide
The bad news is that more and more of these people are dropping further away from this line. Median income for those below the poverty threshold is now 18.5 per cent lower than the actual poverty line figure. The year before, it was 15 per cent. In other words, those below the threshold are finding less and less connection with the middle classes. The poverty gap is widening.
The reasons are obvious: the war in Ukraine that created an energy crisis, high inflation on all kinds of products and services and economic uncertainty made it even harder for people struggling in poverty. In early 2022, municipal social services received a lot of questions about rising energy prices and requests for debt mediation. More people were also visiting food banks.
A difficult and stigmatising step, student Rebecca Vandensteen calls the decision to join a food bank. "There is still a lot of shame surrounded to it," she says. "I myself still go to the supermarket, but I notice that it is becoming increasingly difficult. Basic food stuffs like bread and milk are getting more and more expensive."
New groups
The barometer also identifies a relatively new group emerging in the poverty statistics: working double earners. Couples who both earn an income are not always spared a life of poverty and debt. In addition, among the homeless, organisations saw more single mothers with children and families with children.
More measures needed
Decade goals commend the government for initiatives like offering the social energy tariff to more people and increasing minimum benefits on top of an index adjustment in line with inflation. Still, the organisations say there is still work to be done.
"High costs in education, the lack of affordable childcare and accessible healthcare, the lack of tailor-made support to help people into work, the lack of workable employment, the absence of an ambitious plan for social housing, show where policies need to move into a higher gear," says the report.
The Decade Goals claim the government is currently still pursuing too many policies aimed at stigmatising and making people in poverty, on long-term sick leave or the living wage minimum benefit feel guilty.