News item | 09-02-2024 | 2:30 PM
To abolish or radically revise the benefits system, the government has developed 18 concrete alternatives. The final report Future Benefits describes solutions to important problems in the current benefits system. Although the various options involve difficult choices, the exploration also shows that it is possible to take a different course.
With this final report, State Secretary De Vries of Finance (Benefits and Customs) informs the House of Representatives, together with Minister Van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment, Minister Dijkstra for Medical Care and Minister De Jonge for the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
State Secretary De Vries: “The options in this report offer the prospect of doing things differently so that a well-founded and careful choice can be made about the future of benefits. It is important to work towards a simpler system, in which working more pays more. We also want people to no longer be confronted with high chargebacks. It is important that the final report is now available.”
The government has expressed the ambition to abolish the benefits system. Various measures are detailed in the report. Possibilities for abolishing the system, simplifying the system or fundamentally adapting it were examined. Abolishing the benefits system or thoroughly reforming it takes time and will probably not be possible within one cabinet term. It is also complex and there is a great deal of coherence with other schemes. All alternatives to the current system have advantages and disadvantages. For each alternative, the steps that can be taken in the coming years have been mapped out.
All alternatives have been examined to determine whether they are understandable, what people must do to receive a benefit and what the risks are of having to pay back amounts. In addition, income effects, feasibility and the extent to which it offers solutions to the main problems of the current system were examined.
In the meantime, the government is continuing to work on improvements to the current system. Steps have already been taken during this cabinet period with new financing for childcare and by simplifying the housing allowance. The benefit partner concept will also be adjusted. This ensures that grandparents who, for example, live in the same house with their children and grandchildren due to informal care, no longer have their allowances reduced. Furthermore, the service provided to benefit applicants has improved and the government is making every effort to ensure that everyone who is entitled to benefits knows how to apply for and receive benefits.
Allowances help people meet the costs of healthcare, rent and children. It also offers people the opportunity to work more by contributing to childcare costs. More than 8 million people will receive approximately 20 billion euros in benefits in 2024. While it works well for the vast majority of people, some get lost in the complicated arrangements, resulting in them not making full use of the benefits they are entitled to. If someone’s situation changes within a year, their entitlement to the allowance may also change. People may therefore have to deal with chargebacks and additional payments. The relationship between different allowances is also sometimes illogical and people, for example, choose not to work an extra day because they will hardly benefit from it. These problems are not easy to solve within the current system.