Half of all families in Belgium unable to save
Fewer than half of all families in Belgium have enough money to allow them to save, and 3% have more debts than assets, according to a survey carried out by the European Central Bank.
Only 48% of families in Belgium said they were able to put money aside as savings, and most of those were families who owned their own homes. Among those who rent, only one in three is able to save. At the same time, 2.7% of families have net asset worth – their debts are more than any savings and property owned – amounting to 130,000 families.
Professor Ides Nicaise of the Research Institute for Labour and Society at the University of Leuven pointed out that a lack of savings greatly increases the risk of debt, as any emergency spending has to be financed by borrowing, usually adding to debts already existing debts.
The ECB figures offer another perspective on the news from the National Bank that the total worth of savings accounts in Belgium reached €245 billion in June. Belgians on average save 7% of their income directly and another 9% through investments in new home construction and renovation. The average household has total net assets of €338,000; the richest 10% have an average of €700,000 and the poorest 10% about €2,800.
