Afro-descendants are often the most disadvantaged in the labor market, with a higher inactivity rate and lower salary deciles, according to a Unia report published on Monday and quoted in Le Soir.
The general employment rate in Belgium in 2016 is 65.8%. It is highest for people of Belgian origin, at 73.7%. With 45.8%, people of sub-Saharan origin have the lowest employment rate. They are found behind people from the Near and Middle East.
In general, the employment rate rises with the level of qualification, except for people of foreign origin who do not benefit from this positive relationship. A particularly striking result for people of sub-Saharan origin for whom long studies are less profitable, notes Unia.
Regardless of educational level, people of sub-Saharan origin have the lowest employment rates of all origins. And with 59.7%, the employment rate of people of sub-Saharan origin with a higher education diploma is close to that of people of Belgian origin with at most a lower secondary education diploma (55%). .
The impact is also felt in terms of salary: workers of sub-Saharan origin with a higher education diploma more often find themselves at lower salary levels than those of another origin despite a level of diploma and field identical studies: workers with a higher education diploma of sub-Saharan origin are each time three deciles below those of Belgian origin.
“The contrast between their high level of education and their low employment rate is striking”worries Patrick Charlier, director of Unia, who is asking for structural solutions.