While the traditional woman’s movement, the “tradwife”, is gaining momentum on social networks, the question of the return of women to the home arises in Belgium. How many of them are making this choice and what are their motivations?
The “tradwives” movement, these women who advocate a return to a traditional role in the home, is getting a lot of attention. For these women, their place is at home and nowhere else. A phenomenon which does not yet seem to take hold in Belgium. What is really the number of housewives in Belgium today?
In 2020, Belgium had 300,000 people at home, 95% of whom were women. A figure markedly decreasing compared to 1986, when there were more than a million people at home. The distribution by age groups remained relatively stable, with a majority of people aged 35 to 64.
Traditionalist ideology?
Contrary to popular belief, the choice to stay at home is not always linked to a traditionalist ideology. In 86% of cases, it is a decision motivated by family reasons, such as the need to care for children or dependent relatives.
Although a large majority of homemakers do not plan to return to professional activity in the near future, 39% of them have already exercised a profession in the past. Does this population constitute a potential breeding ground for increasing the employment rate in Belgium?
Potential labor resource
Several factors explain the reluctance of some women to return to the job market. Among them, the lack of satisfaction at work, the difficulty of reconciling professional and family life, and for the younger generations, a rejection of productivism and competition.
More reception structures
According to Philippe Defeyt, economist at the Institute for Sustainable Development, favorable structural conditions could allow certain women to return to professional activity: “It is likely that more reception structures and more support services for dependent people would free up energy for the labor market.“, he concludes.
Find You are in the newspaper every evening from Monday to Friday at 6 p.m. on bel RTL with Peggy Simono and Thibaut Roland.
Housewives tradwives tradwife belgium work family feminism economy employment rate
