Families of children with special needs in Flanders: their vulnerability within the citizenship paradigm

Although societies, as a reaction to the social model of disability, try to integrate and empower people with impairments and disadvantaged families through inclusive policies, these population groups continue to experience integration difficulties. Besides negative changes in health, a weak socioeconomic situation of a family can have a considerable impact on the empowerment and integration opportunities that are available for these families. Using results of analyses on Flemish data, this article explores the socioeconomic situations of Flemish families that have children with special needs. The results indicate that families with a child with special needs find themselves more often in a weak socioeconomic situation, but having a disabled child does not directly undermine the socioeconomic living circumstances of the family, although it does place a heavy strain on familial relationships. These results provide valuable insights into the capacity of these families to fulfil their roles as empowered citizens.