In Brussels, thousands of people bear a heavy caregiving burden every day for a sick, disabled or dependent relative. To address the exhaustion, precariousness and isolation experienced by informal carers, a draft resolution put forward by MR MP Aurélie Czekalski is being debated this Thursday in the Brussels Parliament to strengthen their recognition, support and protection, in coordination with the federal level.
Informal caregiving is now a major social reality, yet it remains invisible. In Belgium, more than 1.3 million people are informal carers. In Brussels, around 8% of the population is affected, including tens of thousands of young people under 25. These carers carry out multiple tasks: nursing, medical support, administrative management, emotional support and day-to-day logistics. This responsibility, often exercised over a long period and mostly by women, has numerous consequences for the lives of informal carers. Many reduce or stop their professional activity, at the cost of significant loss of income, while others are left without a suitable solution when they can neither work full-time nor be fully available for employment.
While a legal framework exists at federal level, the current arrangements in Brussels remain insufficient and too complex to address the diversity of situations experienced. However, the Region has essential levers in terms of support, psychosocial assistance, respite care, combating the non-uptake of rights and preventing precariousness. It is with this in mind that an interfederal “informal carer” plan is needed.
Liberal MP Aurélie Czekalski explains: “Behind the word ‘informal carer’ lie extremely heavy human realities. Being an informal carer means living without respite and often in great loneliness. Parents devote their lives to caring for their child or relative, day and night, at the cost of their health, their career and sometimes their mental balance. These people are not asking for privileges. They are asking for recognition, support and concrete solutions so they can carry on.”
While the MR states that unemployment is not a structural answer to situations of heavy caregiving, it categorically refuses to abandon informal carers. It calls for strengthening and simplifying existing arrangements, better coordination between employment, social protection and support, and the development of respite care and support solutions suited to Brussels realities.
Minister David Clarinval is moving forward and this week submitted a note to the federal government to address the situation of certain informal carers. In his back-to-work reform, Minister Clarinval had already provided for a transitional measure for informal carers exempted from availability for the labour market. He is now proposing to strengthen it by increasing the amount, and is inviting these people to apply for this exemption. This solution must be implemented quickly to address the urgency of the situation. It will be a flat-rate amount corresponding to the amount they currently receive.
This week in the Brussels Parliament, left-wing parties rejected the MR's text, preferring to blame the federal level. One might well ask what these same parties have done in the Brussels Region in recent years, when they held all the cards.
Link to the proposal co-signed by MR MPs Aurélie Czekalski, Aline Godfrin and Amélie Pans
At federal level, MP Julie Taton points out that informal carers devote all their time to caring for their loved ones. They seek help that allows them to care for a seriously ill baby, a severely disabled child or a relative at the end of life… These are heavy life ordeals, requiring them to put their lives on hold, temporarily or… ?
The MP stresses that at regional level, Minister Yves Coppieters must propose solutions: the number of places in centres, the number of centres, transport… There is a real problem in this area.