BRUSSELS — One out of every eight Belgian children or 13.2 percent is growing up in a family in which no one has a job, a European Commission report has revealed.

The European average is somewhat lower: 9.9 percent of children grow up in jobless families, newspaper ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ reported on Wednesday.

A Brussels Free University sociologist, Ignace Glorieux, said the high figure in Belgium was “alarming”, admitting concern that these children might also end up unemployed.

“In general, children with jobless parents have it more difficult when it comes to study. As a result, the risk is greater that they will also be jobless,” Glorieux said.

“Besides the financial side, this can also form a serious problem in areas of self-appreciation and trust in people, organisations and society in general.”

The European Commission report also indicated Belgium has 3.9 percent more lower-educated people aged between 25 and 65 than the European average (32.5 percent).

“That is because many people aged 55 or more don’t have a secondary school diploma. But that percentage is under 20 percent among 20-year-olds and that figure keeps falling,” Glorieux said.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news