Women in Belgium

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Women in Belgium
General Statistics
employment rate
OECD definition, 2019)[1]
Gender Inequality Index[2]
Value0.048 (2021)
Rank10th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index[3]
Value0.793 (2022)
Rank14th out of 146
Part of a series on
Women in society
Venus symbol
Society
Popular culture
Sports
See also: List of sports
By country
language areas and provinces of Belgium. Provinces are marked by the thinner black lines.
  Dutch-speaking
  
  French-speaking
  German-speaking
  
  Bilingual FR/NL
Community:   Region:
Flemish   Flanders
French and Flemish   Brussels
French   Wallonia
German-speaking   Wallonia

Women in Belgium are

European women who live in or are from Belgium. Generation after generation, Belgian women are able to close the "occupational gender gap". In younger generations, this is due to the increasing availability of "part-time jobs in services" for women. In 1999, the average earnings of a Belgian woman was 91 percent of the salary of a Belgian man. When not doing part-time jobs, Belgian women still "do more of the domestic work", depending on the agreement between female and male partners.[4]

Cultural background

Further information:
Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium

Belgian culture is complex, because it has both aspects that are shared by most Belgians regardless of the language they speak, as well as differences between the main cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking

Brussels-Capital Region is primarily French speaking, but is quite bilingual, and is also a cosmopolitan place. There is also a small German speaking community in the East of the country. Women's rights in Belgium have been influenced by a variety of factors, including local culture, and national laws and policies. Women obtained the right to vote first with restrictions in 1919, and on equal terms with men in 1948.[6] Women obtained the right to stand for elections in 1921.[6]

Marriage and family life

Like in most other European countries,

divorce law in Belgium was liberalized in September 2007. In the 21st century, the link between marriage and fertility has decreased: in 2012, 52.3% of births were outside of marriage.[12] The centrality of marriage in peoples' life is no longer so strong: in the European Values Study (EVS) of 2008, the percentage of respondents who agreed with the assertion that "Marriage is an outdated institution" was 34.3% in Belgium.[13]

Reproductive rights and health

Further information: Abortion in Belgium

Abortion laws in Belgium were liberalized in 1990.

sub-replacement fertility rate: the total fertility rate (TFR) is 1.7 children born/woman (est. of 2015),[17]
which is below the replacement rate of 2.1.

Women in politics

The representation of women in parliament has been increasing steadily since 1995.[18] In lower or single Houses after parliamentary renewals in 2007, women have taken 55 seats to account for 36.7%.[18] In 2014, that number rose slightly to 57 accounting for 38% in the lower or single House.[19] Women in upper houses of parliament in 2007 was 27 out of 71, which was 38%.[18] That number rose to 30 women accounting for 50% total in the upper house in 2014.[19] Belgium has a law requiring political parties to nominate at least 33 percent women. The parties that do not meet the target face sanctions.[18]

Women in the workforce

Belgium, like neighboring Netherlands, has a strong tradition of women fulfilling a predominantly domestic role, rather than a professional one.

gender roles for men and women. However, from the 1990s onward, this has started to change. The occupational gender gap has been decreasing in recent years, especially among younger generations. However, the higher occupational rate of women is primarily due to an increase in part-time jobs. In 2011, 43.3% of employed women worked part-time, compared to only 9.2% of men.[21] There is also a strong segregation by field, and there are less women in Belgium working in STEM and engineering than the EU average.[21]

The gender employment gap for highly educated women decreased to 7% in 2002, below the

OECD average.[22] However, the overall employment rate for women aged 20–64 years is 63.0% compared to 72.3% for men (in 2016).[23] The gender employment gap for highly educated women is smallest in Flanders and largest in Wallonia.[22]

References

  1. ^ OECD. "LFS by sex and age - indicators". stats.oecd.org. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  4. ^ De Lannoy, Jean and Ruben A. Lombaert. "Belgium". Advameg, Inc. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Culture of Belgium - history, people, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social, marriage". everyculture.com. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  6. ^ a b "inlay_eurpean 1-12.qxd" (PDF). Idea.int. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  7. ^ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, by Bonnie G. Smith, pp 332.
  8. ^ "Country Details". Lawschool.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  9. ^ Corps de femmes: sexualité et contrôle social. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  10. ^ "Document législatif n° 4-162/1". senate.be. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Legislation Dans Les Etats Membres du Conseil de L'Europe en Matiere de Violence A L'Egard des Femmes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-20. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  12. ^ "Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table". europa.eu. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  13. ^ [1] See: Variable Description - Family - Q 45.
  14. ^ "Belgian King, Unable to Sign Abortion Law, Takes Day Off". The New York Times. 5 April 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  15. ^ a b c "Living in Belgium". angloinfo.com. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  16. ^ "The World Factbook". cia.gov. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  17. ^ "The World Factbook". cia.gov. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  18. ^ a b c d "Women in Parliament in 2007: The Year in Perspective." Ipu.org. Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2008. Web. 24 July 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Women in National Parliaments." Women in Parliaments: World Classification. 1 July 2017. Web. 24 July 2017.
  20. ^ "WOMEN IN THE EUROPEAN UNION" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  21. ^ a b "Gender equality" (PDF). European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Gender wage gap for women | Eurofound". www.eurofound.europa.eu. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  23. ^ "Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

External links

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