One in eight children are at risk of growing up in poverty, especially on the coast
The deprivation index expresses how many children aged 0 to 3 live in deprivation. The percentage is calculated on the basis of family income, employment situation of the parents and housing. In West Flanders, the index fell less sharply than in Flanders.
Limited family income
Blankenberge (30.8%), Ostend (26.9%) and De Panne (25.6%) have the highest deprivation index. The percentage is lowest in Ruiselede: 2.7 percent. In the entire province, the deprivation index is 12.5 percent. Antwerp leads the way with 16.1 percent, followed by Limburg (13.2%), West Flanders, East Flanders (12.1%) and Flemish Brabant (7.6%).
“The fact that underprivileged poverty is declining among young children is positive, but we continue to emphasize that one in eight children in West Flanders is still born in underprivileged conditions,” says Diederik Vancoppenolle of Opgron. In our province, the cause in 86 percent of the cases is the limited income of the parents. A low level of education also plays a major role (84.1%). In addition, 78.1 percent of children in underprivileged families have parents who are unemployed or have a precarious employment situation.
According to OpGroen, this decrease is due to the socio-economic profile of the parents. “The parents are higher educated and earn more, and those are the very parameters we base ourselves on,” says Niels Heselmans. In 2019, the deprivation index fell for the first time. “It remains to be seen what the consequences of the corona crisis, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine will be.”
Wider view
The deprivation index only focuses on young children. Other figures show that many more children and young people up to the age of 18 grow up in a family with a limited family income. According to the most recent data from 2018, 17 percent of West Flemish children live in a family where the gross taxable family income is a maximum of 30,000 euros.
To support these families, the Flemish Government has developed the Groeipakket. In our province, more children were entitled to such a social allowance in 2021, especially among middle-income families. The share of children with a school allowance decreased slightly.