Half of Belgium’s non-EU migrants not working

Belgium is the only European country in which more than half of the non-EU migrant population isn’t employed, De Standaard reports today. The employment rate among non-EU nationals residing in Belgium stands at 45.8 percent – a European low, according to an article published in the National Bank of Belgium’s economic journal. Furthermore, there is a 20 percent gap between the employment rates of the EU and non-EU population. Only 37 percent of women born outside of the EU and living in Belgium hold a job. Discrimination at recruitment levels plays a significant part in this low-employment level; studies show that employers throughout the EU favour hiring ‘locals’. As a results, Belgian residents born outside the EU are underrepresented in many work sectors while, chiefly through a lack of qualifications, they are particularly active in more vulnerable trades such as the catering industry.