Single people as black sheep in budget agreement? Political analist Sinardet: “The world’s most heavily taxed worker”

26 comments

  3. This is why I do not bother increasing my income. And why singles can’t move out.

    I’m thinking, maybe this is even discriminatory and illegal ?

  5. I heard it on the radio yesterday and was like “wtf?! This is so unfair”. In the past where nearly all couples had children we can talk about how much sense it made. But today it is bullshit^10.

  6. Yep I’ll forever be a cashcow, as long as I stay single.

    I’ve joked plenty already that my main reason for having a relationship is financial reasons.

  7. My girlfriend made her thesis about this very fact. Teachers weren’t supportive because they didn’t believe her. Until they saw her thesis. Then they were like, wow.
    And it’s not only financially that they are being held back. The social stigma of not having a partner and not having children is constantly questioned and judged.
    You can only be happy in a relationship with children. Mind you, it is mostly people in relationships with children that feel the need to pressure the single person into having a relationship or children.
    But there are plenty of other pijlers that show a slight discrimination toward the single person.

  9. Add to that the fact that proportionally rent and utilities are a much bigger % of a single person’s salary. Single people with no kids really get the short end of the stick.

  13. honestly it’s crazy, I live in Antwerp and really like it here, but i got a job in the Netherlands. I’m going to commute. In Belgium I’m taxed more and given a smaller salary :/

  14. I hope that by now most of us know that working as a regular employee in Belgium without any kind of diffent source of income isn’t going to make you upper middle class any more.

    Meanwhile capital gains taxes (which even exist in capitalist Murrica) are nowhere to be found in this country. It really is a tax paradise for the happy few.

  15. While the tax differences between married/unmarried ought to be removed (keeping people trapped in relations they don’t want for the money has no benefits), the redistribution in favor of the next generation is a good thing and should be retained. However, preferably by centralizing all child-related fiscal benefits into the actual child benefits rather than shoehorned all over the place in every single government department and subsidy scheme. Finally, as elementary part of income redistribution and solidarity it ought to be centralized at the highest level possible, i.e. the federal level until the EU can take it over.

  16. I’d argue that all working people get fucked, not only those who are single. Single people get the short end of the stick though (well, the shortest, because as usual everyone who’s working gets punished)

  17. De Croo stating “people who achieve more get rewarded more” is some neoliberal bullshit alright.

    People shouldn’t be rewarded. They should be helped if they need help.

    Effectively, he’s treating people like the stockmarket. A stock that doesn’t perform? Drop it. A stock that performs? Invest more into it.

    Though if you do that with people, that means letting people die because they don’t produce enough value.

    Which is effectively what he said: He’s ok with people dying because they don’t produce enough.

  18. How are we supposed to live with all that ? They’re bleeding us dry for more money.

    It’s good to help those in need because of the huge increase in energy bill to come, but not to the point of killing the middle class, and single persons… I’m unable to leave my family home because I would be broke renting an apartment or house alone. And I have a proper salary. But with the rent, the bigger bills, the bigger taxes, I would have barely enough to buy me food for the month. It’s insane. And it’s getting worse.

  19. Quite surprised it is such a large group with almost no political voice. Which easily leads to the current situation of being the cash cow.

  20. Glad to see there’s at least some proof/attention for this topic. I’ve felt really sulky about this topic for ages now. All talks about ‘equality’ and ‘every person is equally valuable’ just get me going, as it’s clearly not the case.

    Common answer you’re gonna get is: ‘you don’t need it anyway’. Couldn’t disagree more.

  24. Non-problem.

    (Expat point of view) Taxes are stupid high for everyone. Taxes are used to finance the state. So I wonder if you need this much state. Welfare is good compared to my country, Italy, but no surprise because Italy sucks and everybody knows.
    Still I see a lot of unnecessary paperwork, offices, procedure. Digitalisation is poor. Any human intermediation on public stuff that could be easily automated results in anyone else working extra time for nothing.

    The solution is the same for anyone in developed countries. Automate and simplify the state, layoff public workers and lower taxes.

    Roughly 40% of salary, of the net then TVA on goods, taxes on rent, and so on. Overall there’s at least 50% of taxes. So we work 6 months for the state.

  25. My mom worked half-time
    raised my and my sis just fine

    went on holidays, never had any money troubles

    saved up quite a bit, with no real plans for that money other than, just in case

    Considering what she lost due to the divorce, it’s a miracle that less than 10 years later she’s so well on her feet

    and yee my dad basically almost never payed alimentatie cuz appearantly you can’t actually force a person to do so, when they can
    1. pay a small amount of the money owed
    2. Barely have any money to give (Due to him spending it on hunting trips and the like)

    srsly she dragged him to court 3 times, never worked in her favor, lost a lot of money too

    TL;DR
    doomthinking isn’t going to get anyone anywhere, realise where you can save and start planning your finances

    Even a small paycheck can add up to a lot if you’re realistic about it

  26. I don’t see myself getting a partner anytime soon and it hurts to see this. If they keep this up, do have to get married to a person I don’t even love just so I can buy a house? Because that’s a really sad future

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