Belgium is among the most developed countries in the world. However, in Wallonia, more than one in five inhabitants lives in a household at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This risk reflects the proportion of people who are affected by at least one of the three forms of poverty: monetary poverty, living in a household with very low work intensity, and severe material and social deprivation.
Poverty in Wallonia: a hidden challenge in a developed country
Severe material and social deprivation affects 8.6% of the population. It refers to a set of essential needs that anyone should be able to satisfy. This includes the ability to Pay rent on time, of Heating your home, to participate in regular leisure activities, to buy new clothes or even to have two pairs of shoes. People who, for financial reasons, cannot access at least seven of these needs are considered to be in a situation of severe deprivation. They are not only materially limited, but also socially isolated.
Persistent poverty
In Wallonia, poverty is rarely temporary: three out of four poor people are in a situation of persistent poverty. Moreover, poverty is often passed on from generation to generation: various studies show that a child living in poverty is likely to become a precarious parent.1.
Faced with this situation, it is essential to put in place solutions aimed at breaking this cycle and allowing a sustainable exit from poverty.
Employment, an unequal bulwark against poverty
Among the available solutions, access to a job is a fundamental lever for a lasting way out of precariousness. Indeed, it has been shown that people considered to be “inactive”, that is to say who do not benefit from working income, are over-represented in the situation of poverty.
Yes, but again, there are inequalities in access to the labour market. Young people with a non-European immigration background are three times more likely to live under the poverty line than Belgian citizens and face more obstacles to obtain a stable job. In Belgium, their employment rate is more than 20 percentage points lower than that of young people without migratory origins. So it does not go without saying!
If we want to make the labour market effectively accessible — and to offer these young people full of potential the chance to get out of poverty in the long term — we need to address the causes of these inequalities and invest in useful corrective measures that have been shown to have an impact.
Multifactorial difficulties
To reduce these inequalities, DUO for a JOB focuses its action on this particularly vulnerable audience. Since 2017, in Wallonia, we have supported more than 1000 young people with an immigration background in their search for work and their desire to find their professional path in Belgium. Through our field experience, we see to what extent the socio-economic situation of accompanied young people influences their job search.
First, there are the difficulties related to the context. For newcomers, they concern the migration path and the conditions of their arrival in Belgium. More generally and for all young people, they are also linked to the context of the Belgian labour market (qualification requirements, linguistic constraints, job insecurity, discrimination, etc.).
Then there are the difficulties associated with finding a job. They generally concern access to information and existing services, the identification and enhancement of skills, knowledge of the job market, the difficulty of projecting and applying for it, access to training but also the lack of social capital and relevant networks.
Finally, there are the social difficulties. In Wallonia, only 5% of accompanied young people have an income from work, making financial precariousness and debt particularly frequent problems. In addition, 13% face housing problems, such as unsanitary conditions, excessive rent, or the risk of eviction. Other situations, such as the lack of child care or mental health problems, also come up on a recurring basis.
Mentoring as a tool in the fight against poverty
Mentoring to employment provides a concrete response to these various obstacles and can truly change life trajectories. The results show it: despite the accumulation of penalizing characteristics, 7 out of 10 young people get a job, training or an internship.
The key to the DUO for a JOB program is to offer, through the mentor, individualized support to address, one by one, the needs of each young person. The mentor, through his availability and the exclusivity of his relationship with the mentee, embodies privileged human support. Once trust is established, it becomes a real thread in the integration process, creating links and facilitating transitions between young people, businesses and public administrative and social services.
Far from replacing the young person, the role of the mentor aims above all to strengthen its autonomy. It informs, inspires, guides and secures, thus helping the mentee to navigate more calmly through often complex procedures. In precarious situations, the mentor can support the young person in defining a realistic project, by dissociating on the one hand the short-term project guided by the principle of reality and linked to financial needs and on the other hand a long-term project.
The impact of mentoring goes beyond the immediate scope of coaching. It promotes the development of key skills: self-confidence, broadening the social and professional network, improving the language level and better understanding of Belgian culture. These achievements allow young people to secure their career, to adapt to professional challenges and to bounce back in the event of difficulties, thus promoting sustainable integration into the labour market.
1 : From Schutter, O., Frazer, H., Frazer, H., H.,,, Guio, A.-C., & Marlier, E. (2023). The Escape from Poverty: Breaking the Vicious Cycles Perpetuating Disadvantage.
.png)
