Written by Thomas van Damme
- Belgian
- currently living in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Belgium and the demographic development;
Belgium is not a big country, but it has around 11.2 million people.
It is divided into two major parts; the south part called “Wallonia,” and the north part called “Flanders,” and in the middle there is smaller part, called “Brussels.”
Since 1970, the population has grown around 7%. The numbers of families have grown much more (33%). There are more families but they tend to be smaller.
The average in the 70s was about 2.98 members in a family and now it is closer to the 2.39 members.
Flanders has the highest number of family members in one family and Brussels has the lowest.
In general, the size of the families is getting more and more stable in the ratio of around 2.00 : 1, compared to the previous years.
Two major demographic transitions;
From 1860 to 1960, Belgium had what you can call a first demographic transition. Mortality and fecundity were at a lower rate than nowadays and the age of first marriage was also lower which had consequences for an aging of the population, a diminishing number of family members and a higher number of married couples.
This period finished right after the Second World War. The society was in a “rebuilt” atmosphere, which led to a so-called “baby boom.”
Since 1960, we are in the second demographic transition.
The demographic behaviour changed, the relation between sexes is different. It is more common to divorce and the methods of contraception are more efficient. The growing diversity in the form and structure of household is also an element part of this change, for example, reconstructed families.
A change from a quarter century ago is the cohabitation without marriage. It was already starting to be common in the Wallonia and Brussels in the 80s, but it was more rare in the north of the country. This is probably due to the fact that Flanders was a much more Catholic part of the country.
In the present, the families in Belgium are composed by these two transitions. In the older generation there are a lot of marriages, and in the younger generation you can see diverse types of household appearing.
Different notions of the word “family”;
These are all very useful facts to understand the history of the idea of “family in Belgium.” But it is also important to talk about what we see. I lived mostly in Liege. Liege is a city with around 196,300 people living. I could see a lot of different types of families.
I could see the “clichés” families, like the lower-class mum dragging her six kids across the street, and the high-class couple going into their beautiful car with their unique child.
But what is extremely interesting is when you give a closer look and see that there is a lot of diversity. Each family has a slightly different structure or way of living. This makes categorizing harder.
For me, family is not anymore just about marriage. A family is not a financial cocoon where two people decide to live together and raise kids. Family is more about the people that are around you with who you can share your life and your experiences, it can then be your parents but also your friends or people living in the same environment.
I could also notice that with the people around me, especially when I moved to Amsterdam.
In Liege, like most of the smaller cities in Belgium (and maybe even other countries), people usually stay close to their family. There is an idea of staying close to the “nest.”
But in bigger cities, things are different. You can sometimes notice another notion of “family.” This, I think, is coming by the fact that a lot of people are joining the capitals for professional reasons; they leave their family and go to a new place with no strong bases and usually no family or fewer. They will then meet other people and make new connections; sometimes these new acquaintances will become strong friends or lovers.
All these people are becoming your environment; you see them everyday and soon share more of your feelings than with your family that you see only few times.
Because you get so close to some new people, they are entering your life and start to have a very strong place in your heart. I personally think that these people are at that moment a sort of family.
Something else that I think is important to talk about when we come to the evolution of the “family,” is the change of mind about homosexuality. Recently the gay marriage has been legalized in a lot of places. I think this is not just one of the best things of these times, but it is also a big change for the family structure. In the old times, a “daddy,” a “mummy” and the kids composed the families. But love is not a gender thing and family is all about love. Itʼs again, a proof of improvement in the state of mind.
For me “family” is meaning of trust and love. It has no perfect or set structure; there is no guide to get an ideal family. You just need a group of people that can trust each other, love each other and enjoy more each otherʼs company. That is for me what's a family.
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.”
Richard Bach
（Thomas van Damme / トマ・ファン・ダム）
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