A greater share of women go on medical leave for over one year in Belgium compared to men, a gender gap that has grown for more than a decade and that is only widening.
The number of women off work for more than a year due to a health condition is significantly higher than for men. Statistics from the National Institute for Sickness and Disability Insurance (RIZIV) show that 284,732 women were work-incapacitated for more than a year in 2022, while "just" 187,195 men found themselves in the same position.
This gender gap has been growing for more than 15 years, a report by the Independent Health Insurance Funds showed.
Chronic conditions and female-specific issues
Several factors underlie this inequality, the report noted. Firstly, more than 28% of women have a chronic disease in Belgium, compared to 23% of men. While women do tend to live longer, they do so in poorer health, increasing their risk of being off sick.
Meanwhile, the impact of female-specific health problems, such as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and menstrual pain is still underestimated. Discussing menopause symptoms also remains taboo, even though it currently affects 30% of female workers, with nine in ten of them experiencing symptoms.
Women also have a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression: seven in ten periods of incapacity for work of more than six months due to burnout or anxiety affect women, and the prevalence of these conditions among women has risen by 50% in five years.
Both at work and in their private life, women also experience more violence – either psychological, sexual or harassment – than men. "However, their complaints are underrepresented in occupational health records. In particular, occupational illness related to mental health is ignored."
Social aspects
The social element also comes into play. Women are more likely to work part-time (38% of women compared to 10% of men), often in sectors where part-time work, and therefore irregular schedules, are dominant.
This is associated with difficult working conditions (less job security, recognition or financial stability and limited access to social benefits), which can lead to higher rates of medical leave. In turn, it increases the risk of mental health problems, injuries and work-related disorders.
Finally, women are also more likely than men to take on caring responsibilities: they stay at home more often to look after children and are also the majority of informal carers, adding additional pressure. Single-parent families also tend to be headed by a woman, family circumstances that limit their ability to work full-time.
The health experts formulated ten recommendations for policymakers to take more account of this gender inequality, including information campaigns on conditions specific to women, supporting employers in introducing gender equality policies and measures to promote the division of care tasks between men and women as well as work-life balance.
