In Belgium being single costs you more It costs more to live alone than if you have a partner.
Furthermore, single people pay more tax than those that either legally cohabit or are married. As well as being a Brussels regional MP for the Flemish liberals Carla Dejonghe is a leading figure in All1, a not-for-profit organisation that represents the interests of those that live in single-person households. She told VRT News that “Even though single people account for almost half of all households, they simple aren’t commercially or politically interesting”.
There are more than 1.8 million people in Belgium that live alone. If you add the around 500,000 one-parent families to this figure almost half the country’s households are headed by a person that does not cohabit with another adult. Nevertheless, our society remains very much orientated towards couples with 2 incomes. But why is such a large section of the population largely ignored by politicians and disadvantaged by private companies that continue to focus on couples.
Housing, utilities and other bills
The cost of housing, utilities and other bills is the same for a single person as it is for a couple. However, while couple can share their living expenses a single person has to foot the bill in full of a single income.
The Chairwoman of All1, a not-for-profit group that campaigns to get a better deal for single people, Carla Dejonghe told VRT News that “These costs are disproportional”.
“The group of people that is single is much more diverse than the “singles” portrayed in the TV series ‘Sex in the City’. My grandmother lived alone. A lot of students live alone too. We single people account for almost half of all households, but we are not politically or commercially interesting”.
Fiscal disadvantages
Michel Maus is a professor of fiscal law. Professor Maus told VRT News that “Single people without children are indeed fiscally disadvantaged. This is the case both with regard to income tax and regarding inheritance tax.”
According to the OECD, single Belgians without children are among the most heavily taxed workers in the world. This is due to how personal income tax is calculated. Here each individual is entitled to a tax-free allowance. The level is the same for everyone. With couples each person receives the allowance, and the allowance is increased per dependent child.
Inheritance tax is also higher. Those inheriting from a single people with no children pay the highest rates of inheritance tax In Belgium this is 55 for sums in excess of 75,000 euro. Partners or children that inherit pay 27% tax on inheritances above 250,000 euro.
“When a single person dies a greater portion of what they leave goes to the Exchequer than goes to the people he/she held dear”.
Living alone is more expensive
“What we hear most often at All1 is the lack of affordable housing for single people,” Ms Dejonghe told the VRT. Getting a loan is not easy. Paying rent or paying off a mortgage is also a lot more challenging with one income”.
The Flemish Ombudsman Erwin Janssens says that there is also a lack of social housing for singles. “Singles make up almost half of applicants for social housing, while only 25% of the social housing stock is suitable for them. Furthermore, those who live alone and still rent a more spacious social housing property sometimes have to pay an underoccupancy fee.”
Fixed costs such as energy and telecoms bills are also entirely the responsibility of the single person. Add to this a flat-rate taxes imposed by local and regional authorities and property tax, all of which are set at the same rate regardless of how many wage-earners there are in the household.
Holidays and shopping work out more expensive for singles.
Hotels charge per room and not per person, which means that going away on holiday costs more if you are travelling alone.
Piet Demeyere of the tour operator TUI Belgium told VRT News that “If two people go on holiday together we can divide the price of the room by 2. A single person pays a single person’s supplement. Off-season hotels sometime lower their price for single travelers. They prefer to have an occupied room than an empty one”.
Single people also pay proportionally more for their groceries. The retail expert Pierre-Alexandere Billiet told VRT News that “Goods are packed and special offers made with families in mind. Our agricultural and food industry is based on volume.
“There are individual portions available, but that is less economically attractive for food retail. If we were to sell each product individually the price per unit would be higher”.
Change after the elections?
There has long been a political awareness about the plight of single people. However, because they are such a diverse group they are of no political interest to the parties. For now at least groups such as All1 have too little clout to really weigh on policy decisions.
VRT News’ political editor Bart Verhulst says “It is not the case that politicians have done nothing at all for single people. For example, the Flemish Government included what it calls the ‘single reflex’ into the 2019 coalition agreement. This amounts to saying that every new tax or decision will be scrutinised to see whether it disadvantages single people.”
The Federal Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem’s (Flemish Christian democrat) tax reform proposals also included plans to eliminate inequalities between couples, families and singles. However, as the federal coalition parties were unable to reach agreement on the reform proposals they were put on hold.
The Flemish Association of City and Municipal authorities (VVSG) is currently working on a handbook for local government on the issues faced by single people.
In early 2023, Els van Hoof (Flemish Christian democrat) tabled a private member’s bill in the Federal Parliament. The bill addresses many of the poverty issues faced by single people. However, most of measures in the resolution will only be able to be implemented if and when they are included in the next federal coalition agreement.
