Service vouchers will continue to cost nine euros in 2024, but will become more expensive in a roundabout way: the service voucher companies will increase the additional costs for the customer. ‘Absolutely logical,’ says economist Ive Marx (University of Antwerp). According to him, it cannot be justified that service vouchers are still so cheap.
Stavros Kelepouris28 december 2023, 18:42
The service voucher companies increase their prices through a higher customer contribution, even though nothing changes about the checks themselves. Why do they do that?
“That service voucher costs nine euros and that amount has not been indexed for ten years, even though all wages have been indexed. Everything has become a lot more expensive, but not the service voucher. There has been over 15 percent indexation in the past few years alone, and much more over the last ten years.
“In real terms, those service vouchers – which have always been ridiculously cheap – have only become cheaper during that period. It is completely unjustifiable that the price has not increased. Because it is evident that those 9 euros do nothing but cover the costs.”
Why doesn’t the government increase that price?
“Politicians are far too hesitant for that. They do not dare to increase that price for purely electoral reasons. Today the service voucher is simply a subsidy to the upper middle class. At Flemish level, that stuff costs one and a half billion euros, and most of it goes to the higher income groups.
“Because the government does not dare to increase it, the decision is now being passed on: the companies themselves will then increase the costs that they can pass on to the customer.”
How much would the service voucher cost if it were not subsidized?
“The subsidy is approximately double what the customer pays himself, so the service voucher would have to be at least three times as expensive to be self-sustaining. Then you are around 27 euros.”
Then most people wouldn’t use that system anymore?
“Probably not, but those are normal prices. In other countries it is perfectly normal to pay 30 to 35 euros per hour for a cleaning assistant, which is also the price you pay for a window cleaner or to have a repair carried out. That is a normal price for an hour of low-skilled work.”
One and a half billion euros, that is a significant subsidy for a group that can actually afford it.
“I have never found that level of subsidy responsible. The service voucher was introduced as a way to whitewash undeclared work and to increase the employment rate among low-skilled women, mainly those with a migrant background. But we have known for a long time that employment among that group is still very low – lower than in comparable countries without expensive service vouchers.
“We also know that there is a lot of foreign labor in the service voucher sector – especially in Brussels, while there are a lot of unemployed people there. Many people come here from abroad to get such a subsidized job. In the past, these were mainly Poles and our service voucher was sometimes called the best Polish employment measure.
“And moreover – now it’s getting really crazy – there are some people who switch from a regular job, which brings in money for the treasury, to subsidized work through service vouchers. Then you are simply shooting yourself in the foot as a government.”
So the measure completely misses its target?
“There was a noble objective behind it as an employment measure. But in the meantime you see that the discourse in Flemish politics has completely shifted. The competent ministers now keep saying: the service voucher is a support for the hardworking Flemish middle class, the people who create our prosperity and pay taxes, and so on. They need to get that support, so to speak, so that they can continue to work hard and be productive.”
2023-12-28 17:42:51
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