The Wakosta?! budget grant teaches young people in Brussels how to deal with money
The Wakosta?! budget fair has arrived in Brussels for the first time. Until Friday 2 December, young people from the fifth and sixth secondary school can go to Muntpunt to get acquainted with life on your own two feet, and the financial choices that go with it.
Doing the shopping, paying the rent, taking out fire insurance and paying the death costs for the health insurance fund. The Wakosta?! budget grant must prepare young people for an independent life and the financial consequences that come with their choices.
During the trade fair halfway through, the students take an ‘experience course’ in which five themes are discussed: ‘On their own feet, now what?’, ‘Living & energy’, ‘Daily fare’, ‘Media’ and ‘Leisure’. The students take on the role of a character and receive a ‘wage’ that they have to work with themselves. For each theme, they can decide for themselves how much they want to spend on certain items.
The students can also install the Wakosta?! app on their own smartphone to keep track of their budget. The app is free and you do not have a personal account or (after installation) in the required amount.
BIZ Brussels
The budget grant is an initiative of BudgetInZicht Brussels (BIZ Brussels), a government organization that aims to reduce budget and mortgage problems in the Brussels region. According to BIZ, an implementation group of young adults is facing financial difficulties.
Muntpunt, the library that welcomes the budget grant, is also experiencing all too well that life in Brussels is becoming increasingly expensive. Figures from Statbel showed that in October one fifth of Brussels children live in poverty.
The Network Against Poverty recently sounded the alarm about the “unprecedented impoverishment of the population”: in Brussels, more than one in three people are at risk of poverty. That figure could soon rise to one in two, uncertain poverty reduction experts.
That is why Muntpunt has ‘Brussels within Budget‘ has been set up: an initiative by Muntpunt that should help Brussels residents to make their lives more affordable. The library organizes various activities, information sessions and fairs about affordable living in the city. A Brussels budget guide has even been drawn up that you can pick up for free in the library, full of tips and benefits.
The fair is free and will be festively opened in Muntpunt on Monday at 2 pm.