1. Additional Financial Help The case of Ghent (Belgium)
Reference budgets and
Additional Financial Help
The case of Ghent (Belgium)
Thomas Maeseele
Marijke Heirman
Policy support - PCSW Ghent

2. COntext
31/12/18

3. Who are we? Where do we come from?
250,000
Who are we? Where do we come from?
Genk

4. Map - Ghent Ghent: Inhabitants: +/- 250.000 Second city of Flanders
University city
Medieval centre
Nineteenth century circle
Suburbs for middle-class
+/- 15,9% at risk of poverty
+/ households on social assistance
31/12/18

5. Ghent

6. PCSW? PCSW = Public Centre for Social Welfare
Autonomous local government
PCSW double mandate:
Guarantee the right to social welfare
Broad mandate
To effectuate the right to social integration:
By providing a ‘minimum income’, i.c. social assistance
By employment
By an individualised trajectory towards social integration
Reality: often a focus on poverty
31/12/18

7. PCSW – social assistance
Couple (every person):
607,01 euro
Single person:
910,52 euro
Single or couple with children: ,82 euro
31/12/18

8. PCSW Ghent

9. Towards a new policy: motivation
31/12/18

10. Reference budgets and the PCSW
Consensus among social workers that the lowest social benefits are not sufficient
Critique on fixed benefits in the PCSW
Research on reference budgets show the complexity of deciding when someone reaches a minimum standard of living (versus fixed benefits)
31/12/18

11. Reference budgets and additional financial aid
PCSW’s have the discretion to decide to provide additional financial help
8 years of negotiations and finding consensus within the administration and political consensus
PCSW Ghent => basis for the calculation in the reference budgets
31/12/18

12. Discussions when implementing reference budgets
Reference budgets (RB) as goal BUT
Often very high in comparison to other social benefits (e.g. for disability, lowest pensions,…)
a lot of means from the local government (vs. responsibility federal government?)
Budgettary concerns
RB in some cases (e.g. high rent) higher than the minimum income wage in full employment
Welfare versus activation (tensions)
Practical concern => how to find potential beneficiaries
31/12/18

13. Additional financial aid
31/12/18

14. The Ghent system of additional financial aid
Analysis of the situation:
What is the family situation?
Do they have public, social of private housing and what is the rent they pay?
What means of income do they have (means tested)
comparison to the reference budget
comparison to the minimum wage (tension)
31/12/18

15. Accessibility Acces for the lowest incomes: Minimum social benefit
Inactive incomes: pension, benefits for people with disabilities
Policy proposal (elections): all people with an income below the scales
31/12/18

16. Some examples example 1 Single, 25 years old
Social assistance – 892,7 euro
Rent = 450 euro
RB = 985,9 euro
MW (tension) = 1008,53 euro
Additional aid => 93,2 euro

17. Some examples example 1
Couple, 3 children (1 secondary school; 2 in primary school)
Social assistance + child benefit: 1887,10
Rent: 770 euro
RB: 2832,32 euro
MW: 1997,4 euro
Additional aid = 110,3 euro
31/12/18

18. Some examples example 3 Single, 72 years old
Social assistance = 910,52 euro
Rent = 256,99 euro
RB = 909,1 euro
MW = 1040,76 euro
Additional aid = 0 euro
Moves to more qualitative housing: 400 euro rent
RB = 1.052,11 euro
Additional aid = 131,66 euro
31/12/18

19. The Ghent system Used as benchmark
Provide information about clients’ situation
Analysis of the situation of the most vulnerable
Policy development
Data used to support social workers

20. Cost Budget 2015: 1.052.127 euro Budget 2018: 1.988.635 euro
Rise in means provided by the local government to guarantee its residents of a decent income.
31/12/18

21. Other uses of RB
+ Use of budget calculator to grant access to the lowest income child care
+ Reference budgets also used to calculate the living allowance in cases of debt
31/12/18

22. Discussion?
A higher national minimum wage which corresponds to the reference budgets
Responsibility of local government vs. responsibility of other levels of government
Questions about how additional financial aids helps to activate people