Chapter 3 Income Support
If the means of a person are below a certain threshold, this person is eligible for an income support. Any individual eligible for income support needs to apply for social assistance at a local centre for public assistance (CPAS)4, a body which is present in each municipality. The CPASs have some discretionary power over the acceptance. For example, the CPAS can demand an individualised project for social (re)integration that the applicant has to agree to and to follow in order to get and/or to keep social assistance. The income support is for unlimited duration but each year the CPAS has to make a re-assessment of the personal situation of the applicant and it can withdraw income support based on the results of that inquiry. The beneficiary is bound to contact the CPAS should something change in his or her personal (financial) situation, while it belongs to the discretionary power of the CPAS to do the re-assessment on a more frequent basis.
Income support is provided up to the level of the minimum income, i.e. the amount of the benefit is equal to the minimum existence level (see Table 3.1) minus the own means.
The benefit unit is the nuclear family: the couple (cohabiting or married) or the single adult, plus any dependent children. In the social assistance legislation three categories are distinguished:
- category one: applicant living with partner and no dependent family;
- category two: single (no partner, no dependents);
- category three: person with a dependent family.
If the applicant falls under category one, the income of of each cohabitant is confronted with the minimum existence level and each of them has right to income support independently. If the applicant falls under category three, all of the partner’s income, if there is a partner, as well as any income from other first-degree family members living together under the same roof, is taken into account for the calculation of the income support. In this case, the right of the spouse is automatically covered, i.e. (s)he cannot claim for income support separately, and each spouse/partner gets half of the income support amount.
Income support can be granted to all adults (>=18) younger than 64 (from the age of 65 one is eligible for income support to the elderly) and living in Belgium5. It can be extended to minors if they no longer have a legal guardian following a marriage, if they are pregnant, or if they have dependent children.
The means include the whole factual income, not only the official income. The followings are included:
- net occupational income (from employment);
- replacement incomes;
- income from real estate6;
- income from equity7.
On the contrary, the following income components are not taken into account:
- benefits in-kind (such as meals);
- social assistance;
- child benefits;
- alimony for children;
- study grants;
- refundable tax credit for children.
For the years 2015 – 2019, the monthly levels of the minimum income (base amounts for income support in €/month) were the followings (Table 3.1).
| Category/Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 544.91 | 578.27 | 589.82 | 595.13 | 607.01 |
| Category 2 | 817.36 | 857.40 | 884.74 | 892.70 | 910.52 |
| Category 3 | 1089.82 | 1156.53 | 1179.65 | 1190.27 | 1254.82 |
From 1 March 2020, the base monthly amounts are €639.27 for category 1, €958.91 for category 2, and €1,295.91 for category 3.
3.1 Module input
3.1.1 Variables
#> Warning in create_inputvar_table(path_xlsx): Some variables are missing:
#> ahooopo_h_fn, dag_p_hsn, dctcd_h_sn, dhhsi_h_fn, yemch_pyn_sm, yin_hyn_sm,
#> yot_hyg_fm, ypr_hyn_sm.| Name | Description | Database |
|---|---|---|
| ahooopo_h_fn | % of ownership of household main residence | HFCS |
| dag_p_hsn | Age at the time of interview | HBS |
| dctcd_h_sn | Number of children in the household (<18) | SILC |
| dhhsi_h_fn | Number of household members | HFCS |
| yemch_pyn_sm | yearly net cash employment income | SILC |
| yin_hyn_sm | yearly net interest, dividends, profit from capital investments in unincorporated business | SILC |
| yot_hyg_fm | yearly gross income from other sources | HFCS |
| ypr_hyn_sm | yearly net income from rental of a property or land | SILC |
3.1.2 Parameters
| Name | Description | Value (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| ys_capital_coef1 | capital / coefficient 1 | 0.06 |
| ys_capital_coef2 | capital / coefficient 2 | 0.1 |
| ys_capital_thr1 | capital / threshold 1 | 6200 |
| ys_capital_thr2 | capital / threshold 2 | 12500 |
| ys_realest_coef | real estate / coefficient | 3 |
| ys_realest_ex_child | real estate exemption / per child | 125 |
| ys_realest_ex_ls | real estate exemption / lump sum | 750 |
| ys_thr1 | threshold 1 | 639.27 |
| ys_thr2 | threshold 2 | 958.91 |
| ys_thr3 | threshold 3 | 1295.91 |
3.3 References
[a] Sécurité sociale / Citoyen. 2020. URL: https://www.socialsecurity.be/citizen/fr/aide-cpas/aide-financiere/droit-a-l-integration-sociale.
[] SPP Intégration Sociale. 2020. URL: https://www.mi-is.be/fr.
[] J. Derboven, Z. Rongé, S. Van Houtven, et al. “EUROMOD COUNTRY REPORT, BELGIUM (BE) 2016 – 2019”. In: n.d. (2019).
https://www.socialsecurity.be/citizen/fr/aide-cpas/aide-financiere/que-fait-un-cpas.↩︎
In terms of nationality, individuals must either have Belgian nationality or meet one of the following conditions: being a citizen of the European Union (or a member of his family with a residence right), being a foreigner registered in the population register, being a recognized refugee, being a stateless person.↩︎
The calculation of the income from real estate is the following: non-indexed cadastral income with an exemption of €750 plus €125 per dependent child (child that gives right to child benefits). The result is then multiplied by 3 and taken into account in the means test. In case the property is rented, one takes the rent received unless this is less than the amount obtained when using the cadastral income. As social assistance is an individual right, the income from real estate is multiplied by the fraction representing the ownership of the person in the property (in case of shared ownership).↩︎
The first €6,200 of (financial) capital is not taken into account. For the part between €6,200 and €12,500, 6% is taken as income from capital. For amounts higher than €12,500, 10% is taken into account as income from capital.↩︎