Belgium: Child Poverty Rates and Family Allowance Policy

The Financial Burden of Having a Family:

Child Poverty Rates & Family Allowance Policy

Belgium enjoys a relatively low child poverty rate because of the high level of paternal and maternal employment (employment statistics) and effective financial aid programs set up by the federal government to help families. Today, the country's universal system of family allowances, called Gezinsbijslagen, has among the highest benefit levels in all of the European Union.

Child Poverty Rates

Belgium enjoys a relatively low rate of child poverty. In 2006, 7.7 percent of Belgian children lived in poverty.
Children in sole-parent households are especially vulnerable to poverty (child poverty statistics). In fact, in 2000, children living in families with one parent were more than twice as likely to experience poverty than those with two parents, regardless of employment parents' employment status.
As divorce rates rise, marriage rates fall and out-of-wedlock births increase, it is reasonable to assume that the number of single parent households is rising (statistics on fertility and marriage trends).

Child Benefits Provided by the Federal Government

Family Allowances: Gezinsbijslagen

Belgium was one of the first industrialized European nations to establish family benefits. Today, the country's universal system of family allowances is called Gezinsbijslagen.
Providing tax-exempt cash beneifts for all children of working parents, the family allowance system helps parents stay afloat financially.

The Gezinsbijslagen has separate schemes for employees, the self-employeed and for those who are not eligible for one of the former (e.g. government workers).

FAMILY ALLOWANCE FAQS
Who is Eligible?	Universal eligibility for children under age 18 (21 if disabled; 25 if in school)
Is Benefit Taxed?	No
How Do Family Benefits Vary?	Age (as child gets older, benefits increase) Ordinal Rank (a larger benefit is awarded to children lower in the birth order.
Who Is the Benefit Paid To?	Usually to the Mother
How Is it Financed?	It is financed largely by social security contributions.
Are There Any Supplementary Benefits?	Yes, the federal government supplements the allowance for: Children of retired people Children of Disabled or mentally-handicapped people orphans Special Occasions childbirth adoption
Is it Income Related?	No

References:
Columbia University. 2004. Belgium. New York: The Clearinghouse on International
    Developments in Child, Youth and Family Policies at Columbia University.
    Retrieved February 20, 2008 (http://www.childpolicyintl.org/countries/
    belgium.html#maternity).
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development(OECD). 2007. Babies and
   Bosses: Reconciling Work and Family Life; A Synthesis of Findings for OECD
   Countries. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.
   Retrieved February 28, 2008 (http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.
   asp?sf1=identifiers&lang=EN&st1=812004161p1.)