• To create new jobs, especially for low-skilled workers.
• To provide incentives to transform undeclared work to regular jobs in the sector.
• To offer the unemployed the opportunity to move towards a regulated employee status.
• To improve the work-life balance for users by making it easier to outsource domestic work.

Additionally employers can also receive training support through a Federal training Fund (financed up to €7.6 million per year). They are also eligible for other regular employment support for low-skilled workers, long-term unemployed, etc..

• Commercial entities (49%)
• Private employment agencies (1%)
• ‘Insertion’ companies (special form of supported employment) (4%)
• Non for profit organizations (11%)
• Municipalities and local entities (11%)
• ALE (special employment system for long term unemployed) (10%)
• Physical persons (13%)

The market is characterized by an open competition. All companies can ask an accreditation and are eligible to compete.

Users do receive a tax deduction on the service vouchers bought. The value of the tax deduction varies from one region to another. In Wallonia, the deduction amounts to 0.90 euro for each voucher, in Flanders and Brussels region the deduction goes up to 30% of the value of the voucher, but is limited to 1,400 euro per person per year.

The company then assigns them to offer services to users, but those latter are solely clients, not their employers.

• The recognition of PHS companies
• The price-setting
• The payment of PHS companies
• The monitoring and evaluation of the measure

• Cleaning and ironing (in-house)
• Preparing meals (in-house)
• Ironing (outhouse)
• Transport for disabled persons
• Shopping service

• Users:

The measure aimed at supporting working live, thus the working population. However over the years a large number of elderly persons have also started using the system.

• Workers:

The measure aimed at creating job for the low-skilled. Jobs have been taken up primarily by low-skilled women.

• „The workers are predominantly women (97.4%).
• Around 50% of the workers are more than 40 years old while 23% are older than 50.
• Regarding education, 54% of the workers are low skilled workers while 4% are highly qualified.
• Around 70% of the workers have a Belgian nationality and 20% of the workers come from the EU 27.
• A survey conducted in 2011 indicates that 73.3% of the workers live with a partner. Among the workers living together, 87.2% of them have partner who is working.

In Belgium, the service voucher system created indirectly 4,595 additional management jobs within companies in 2013, which represents 3,152 FTE. These workers are employed to guide administratively service voucher workers. On average, 1 administrative staff is employed to guide 33 service voucher workers. A survey conducted in 2011 indicates that 26% of these workers were unemployed before entering the system.

A survey conducted in 2010 shows that the service voucher system allows users to work more hours or to start/continue working. Indeed, 10.6% of the users declared that they were able to increase their working time/employability as they delegate some tasks with the use of the service vouchers and 0.6% of the users declared that they could enter the labour market again as they can do a paid job instead of spending time on domestic work. Finally, 10.8% of the users declared that without service vouchers they would be obliged to reduce their working time.

For the users who declared being able to work more hours thanks to the system, the increase appears to be substantial: indeed, according to 60% of these users, services vouchers allow to work at least 1 additional day. Service vouchers also appear to have a significant impact on the hours worked by the partner.

As a consequence, when considering all users (and their partners), it was estimated that the total number of additional days of work amounted to 5 million, which represents 23 thousand additional full-time equivalent jobs.

• Commercial entities (49% of all companies);
• Private employment agencies (1%);
• Insertion’ companies (special form of supported employment) (4%);
• Not for profit organizations (11%);
• Municipalities and local entities (11%);
• ALE (special employment system for long term unemployed) (10%);
• Physical persons (13%).

During the last years, a certain stabilisation of service voucher companies has been observed. This can be explained by the maturity of the system: the regulatory framework is more or less stable, the controls conducted by the social inspection services seem to grow tighter and the certified/recognized companies, getting larger and larger, are in a process of professionalising.

The survey results moreover indicate that the time that is saved through the system is mainly reallocated to family (23%), other household tasks (22%), entertainment (20%), rest and health (17%). The system therefore clearly allows users to improve their work-life balance.

This improvement might also be illustrated by the continuous increase in the demand for service vouchers, which tend to indicate that the service users are pleased with the opportunity to ease some of their workload and improve their work–life balance. This appears also from their high satisfaction concerning the system: in the latest survey of users in 2010, it is shown that 88% of users are (very) satisfied with the system.

• „Regarding the types of contracts received, it appears that, in 2013, 30.5% of new contracted workers received a permanent contract.
• On average, the hourly wage amounted to € 11.06 in 2013 (for € 8.76 in 2006).
• Regarding working time, the majority of workers worked less than halftime (64.2%), while only 11.2% of workers worked full-time. On average service voucher workers worked 18.4 to 22.2 hours a week in 2013 (for around 15 hours back in 2006).
• A significant share of workers received training in 2013: 26.6% of workers received training through the Federal Training fund.
• For comparison purposes with the previous situation of the workers, it is important to point out that before entering the PHS system, around 35% of the workers were unemployed[5].

The relatively attractive working and employment conditions offered by the system are also illustrated by the survey that was conducted in 2011 among PHS workers. Indeed, they pointed out the following key motivations for entering the system:

• Revenues is a key motivation for 97.4% of the workers;
• The flexibility offered by the system (working time, etc.) is a key motivation for 90% of the workers. Specifically, 95% of the workers are satisfied or very satisfied with working time.

The survey also indicates that workers enjoy several advantages such as the premium at the end of the year (86 % of the workers), travel allowance (84 % of the workers), and received working clothes (65% of the workers). Finally, the global satisfaction of the workers with respect to the work in the system tends to indicate that the system offers them better working condition: 84% of the workers are satisfied (among these workers, 37% are very satisfied) of their work[6].

Regarding the access to social security, in Belgium, entering the service voucher system allows workers who were previously working through undeclared “contracts” to gain key social security benefits. The benefits offered are comparable to those that hold for persons employed in other sectors and cover unemployment benefits, pension benefits, sickness benefits, maternity leave and health benefits. It appears that the access to social security is one of the key motivations for workers to enter the system: 87% of the workers think that the possibility to gain social benefits is a key motivation for entering the system[7]. Finally, it appears that 16.9% of the workers receive additional benefits (income support or unemployment benefits)[8].

• Government intervention (subsidy) for the vouchers: € 1,637 million. For every voucher received, a company can claim an amount equalling € 22.04 in 2013. This amount is made up of the price paid by the user (€ 8.5 or € 9.5) and a subsidy from the government (€ 13.54 or € 12.54). This subsidy represents the main part of the total cost of the system.
• Tax deduction for users: € 278.2 million. Users do receive a tax deduction of 30% on the service vouchers bought up to a deductible amount limited to € 2,720 for the first half of 2013 and € 1,380 from the second half onward. In 2014 the maximal amounted was € 1.400 per user.
• Functioning cost of the system: € 15.6 million.

• Savings in unemployment benefits: € 217 million.
• Increase in social contributions: € 395.2 million.
• Increase in personal income tax: € 178.4 million.

The second set of effects are the indirect effects of the first order through the creation of new companies or activities (which leads to additional revenues for companies’ taxes) and the creation of indirect management jobs[10] (which generates also surpluses in the social contributions, personal income tax and savings in unemployment benefits of previously unemployed persons):

• Increase in companies taxes: € 17.7 million.
• Contributions and taxes due to additional employment (company staff): € 40.8 million.
• Reduction in unemployment benefits: € 8.3 million.

Finally, other indirect effects (of the second order) could also be identified. These effects are related to the decrease in unemployment due to replacement of workers who left their previous jobs to enter the system, the increase in consumption of persons entering the system and earning higher income than previously and the increase in hours worked for users. These effects are less exact and should be considered as approximations:

• „Savings through the replacement of service voucher workers in previous jobs: between € 106.3 and € 212.5 million;
• Savings through the replacement of company staff in previous jobs: between € 7.7 and € 15.5 million;
• Increase in VAT revenue: between € 10 and € 34.9 million;
• Increase in income tax due to users (re) entering into employment: € 297.9 million.