20% of children live in hard-up families

17 November 2008

A study commissioned by the federal minister responsible for fighting poverty Jean-Marc Delizée (Francophone socialist) has found that almost one in five children in Belgium live in families that have trouble making ends meet.

Meanwhile, around one in seven children are classed as living in poverty.

The figures reveal that the percentage of children living in poverty is higher in Wallonia than it is in Flanders.

This is due to the higher levels of unemployment and the greater number of people with poorly paid jobs there.

According to the study, ethnic minority children are five times more likely to be poor than children from families with Belgian roots.

Poor children do less well at school

Children from poor families often do less well at school and attain fewer qualifications than their betterl-off contemporaries.

Minister Delizée has set two priorities for the next two years.

Firstly, he hopes to bring the percentage of people living under the poverty line down to 12%.

Secondly, he hopes to reduce the percent of children living in families where nobody is in work down from 12% to 7%.

(flandersnews.be/Expatica)

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