News

2023-10-05 18:11:00

55% of Belgians barely manage to “make ends meet” while one in six households systematically ends the month in deficit. These are the results of a study carried out by Intrum and published in our pages this week.

Figures which are frightening and which clearly show the distress of thousands of households. But to only cite the crises or the lack of help from the authorities would be a mistake. There have always been unfortunate cases, families who have nothing and who have to manage in delicate situations: we think of the bankruptcy of a family business, single-parent families, a sudden dismissal, etc.

But for a good proportion of people in financial difficulty – who have completely decent incomes – is it not, simply, a problem of education? In schools, no course prepares you for working life, for managing a salary or for learning how to manage a budget. This is obviously the role of parents, but not everyone is there.

However, it is essential in a society where everything pushes us to consume. To do like the others, you can quickly lose control and that is why you have to come into working life well enough armed to avoid falling into the trap of over-indebtedness.

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#Belgians #red #question #education

2023-10-05 18:56:00

Brussels firefighters intervened on Thursday evening on rue de Mérode in Saint-Gilles for a fire in an apartment building. No one was injured, but the building is temporarily uninhabitable. As for the cause of the disaster, it has not yet been determined.

The fire broke out around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. A significant release of smoke was observed coming from a four-story building located rue de Mérode in Saint-Gilles. Several residents then contacted the 112 Emergency Center.

“When we arrived, we found that the fire was raging in the first floor stairwell”said fire brigade spokesperson Walter Derieuw. “The only resident present was able to reach safety via the flat roof, with the help of a neighbor and a ladder.”

Firefighters managed to put out the fire. Only one apartment, on the first floor, was damaged, but the entire building is temporarily uninhabitable, in particular because the gas supply has been cut off.

Around 8:00 p.m., firefighters were still on site, busy with clearing work.

Saint-Gilles
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#uninhabitable #building #SaintGilles #due #fire #arrived #fire #raging #stairwell