Belgium’s Titres-Services Lose 3,000 Jobs in One Year

Belgium’s titres-services (service voucher) system has shed nearly 3,000 household help jobs in a single year, according to new data from the National Office for Social Security (ONSS). The sector fell from 147,687 to 144,873 jobs between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2025, a decline of 1.9 percent, as rising costs and shifting work patterns erode the popularity of the scheme that has long subsidized domestic help for Belgian households.

The volume of work in the sector also contracted by 2.5 percent, equivalent to a loss of 1,923 full-time positions, according to the ONSS report, which explicitly describes the sector as showing signs of fatigue.

A System Under Pressure

Launched in 2004, the titres-services system was designed to bring low-skilled workers into formal employment, combat undeclared work, and improve work-life balance for users. Since the sixth state reform in 2014, the system has been managed by Belgium’s three regional governments—Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia—each of which sets its own prices, tax benefits, and eligible services.

Today, the system faces converging pressures. RTBF reports that the cost of vouchers has risen across all three regions, while the fiscal deduction that once made the service more affordable has been abolished in Brussels and Flanders.

In Brussels, voucher prices rose from 10.20 to 11.40 euros for the first 300 vouchers on January 1, 2026, and the tax deduction was eliminated. Flanders raised prices from 9 to 10 euros and scrapped its deduction in January 2025. Wallonia has so far maintained its deduction—0.90 euros per voucher on the first 150—but raised prices by 20 cents on July 1, 2026, bringing the first 175 vouchers to 10.60 euros, as detailed on the Walloon titres-services website.

The combined effect is significant for consumers. A Brussels resident using a household helper for four hours per week now pays 2,371 euros per year, up from 2,121 euros—a difference of 250 euros. One anonymous Brussels agency director told RTBF that dozens of clients have asked to reduce their helper’s hours, saying the system is simply less attractive than before.

Teleworking and Structural Shifts

The ONSS also points to a longer-term factor: teleworking. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency has observed a structural decline in titres-services usage, as more people work from home and take on household tasks themselves.

“People have started teleworking more and can therefore take on household tasks more quickly,” Peter Vets, spokesperson for the ONSS, told VRT NWS. The agency also warns of a looming personnel shortage: over 37 percent of titres-services workers are over 50 years old, while only 3.5 percent are under 25. Nearly nine out of ten workers hold part-time positions, and men represent just 4.4 percent of the workforce.

Brussels Faces Separate Crisis

The employment decline is compounded by a separate crisis in Brussels, where up to 735 jobs are threatened by a 2024 decree that made social economy employment subsidies incompatible with titres-services funding. Fourteen social economy structures, including Local Employment Agencies, face exclusion from the system.

In May, household helpers demonstrated in Brussels, with workers and unions warning of the consequences. Céline Laurent, manager at the cooperative Acelya, told RTBF that without public subsidies, the cooperative would have to close its doors: “It’s utopian to believe they will all find work again. They are mostly women of non-European origin, without any diploma, single mothers, or even heads of household.”

Brussels Employment Minister Laurent Hublet initially faced criticism from unions and the opposition, but in June he announced transitional measures to extend the double funding through 2027, as RTBF reported. The political dispute had earlier seen former minister Bernard Clerfayt accuse his successor of over-interpreting the 2024 decree, according to La Libre.

Wallonia Debates the Future

In Wallonia, the sector is also in flux. The regional government spends 622 million euros annually on titres-services, covering roughly two-thirds of the real cost of each hour of service—which exceeds 30 euros. With about 293,000 users and nearly 45,000 workers, the system is deeply embedded in the region’s social fabric.

In May, consultancy IDEA Consult presented a 300-page report to the Walloon Parliament’s Economy Commission, examining the sector’s strengths and weaknesses. The report highlighted the system’s popularity among users while noting structural challenges, as L’Avenir reported. Hearings with sector stakeholders followed in June, revealing deep divisions between employers, unions, and social economy actors over the future direction of the system, as documented by the Plateforme des ALE Wallonnes.

Walloon Minister of Economy and Employment Pierre-Yves Jeholet has been blunt about the need for change, stating that “we have reached the end of the current model.” A reform is expected to enter into force in 2027.

Questions of Effectiveness

The system’s effectiveness has also been questioned. A 2021 study by the University of Antwerp, reported by Trends-Tendances, found that about 30 percent of titres-services workers came from other regular employment rather than from the long-term unemployed or inactive—the original target group. Only 44 percent of workers came from the intended demographic.

What’s Next

As Belgium’s three regions chart different courses—Flanders having already made its system more expensive, Brussels navigating a political crisis, and Wallonia preparing a major reform—the titres-services sector faces an uncertain future. The coming months will be critical: the Walloon reform is expected to take shape in 2027, while Brussels must resolve the fate of its social economy structures.

For the nearly 145,000 workers who remain in the sector, the challenges are clear: an aging workforce, low youth inflow, and a physically demanding job with modest pay. Whether the system can adapt to changing work patterns and fiscal realities—or whether it will continue to shrink—remains an open question for Belgian policymakers and households alike.