As a result, businesswomen with low earnings have to depend on their partners. If they then go through a separation or divorce, their precarious position becomes even more serious.

Across Belgium, 139,236 women give self-employment as their main economic activity. The number earning below the poverty threshold is 46,000, or about 33%. Among self-employed men, the figure is 15%.

NSZ is now calling on businesswomen to create a safety net to protect themselves. The self-employed cannot take advantage of benefits like parental leave or time-credit, used by people in jobs to take unpaid leaves of absence. The organisation also called for a better social status for the self- employed, including tax relief for daycare and household help.

Meanwhile Unizo, which also represents the self-employed, echoed the call for a better safety net for businesswomen, after its own poll showed that 70% of women found that running a business was more difficult than it was for their male counterparts. Some 40% of businessmen polled agreed. Unizo has its own support network for businesswomen: www.mabizz.be.