“The MR promised it and the MR delivered: unemployment benefit has now been scrapped for people who have remained inactive for more than two years,” said Georges-Louis Bouchez at the Royal Circle of Belgian Insurers. “This has been little reported in the media, but 9% of jobseekers unemployed for over 20 years have already found work again. That's proof that the measure works.”
Invited to the entrepreneurs' club The Merode in Brussels, the MR President reiterated that work is the best social policy. By the end of the legislature, the gap between the income of a worker and a non-worker will reach at least 500 euros. From next year, thanks to the tax reform, workers will keep more net income.
For Georges-Louis Bouchez, working must always pay more than not working. The MR is setting up a register of the social benefits accumulated by the unemployed, in order to place a cap on them. Today, some jobless households reach up to 2,500 euros a month by combining benefits and support, more than some workers earn. This situation must change.
While Belgium has around 175,000 vacant positions, the MR wants to mobilise all available resources. One third of those affected will find work again, another third in fact had no right to a benefit, and the final third will be personally supported by the CPAS in returning to work.