Brussels youth unemployment hits 50% in some neighbourhoods

Latest employment figures released Monday reveal that up to 50 percent of young people in some neighbourhoods in Brussels are without a job. The news has city officials calling for action.

Some politicians are suggesting that the problems begin with language. According to Jean-Luc Vanraes, a Flemish liberal chairing social services in Uccle/Ukkel, says that the reason the unemployment rate is so high among youth is due to the language they speak at home is different from the language spoken at school. He said that the discrepancy must be addressed before the age of 18, or it becomes very difficult to deal with the problems.

In the Brussels neighbourhood of Schaarbeek, the social services president, Dominique Decoux, has told the media that the municipality is home to double the amount of people existing on the living wage as Antwerp.