CBS: One in three poor has problematic debts

Almost one in three people who live poverty in the Netherlands has problematic debts. This is according to figures for the year 2023 that the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) published on Sunday. Of the 540,000 arms, 31 percent had registered problematic debts that year, which amounts to 163,000 people. 10 percent of the entire Dutch population has problematic debts. It is the first time that Statistics Netherlands analyzes the relationship between problematic debts and poverty.

Also among people who live just above the poverty line, registered problematic debts are relatively more common. It concerns 22 percent of the more than a million people in that category: 265,000 people. In 2023, more people with problematic debts heard in this group ‘almost arms’ than in the two years before. This is partly because some people in social assistance suddenly exceeded the poverty line because they received energy supplement. Problematic debts are relatively common among social assistance beneficiaries. But an increase in the number of people with problematic debts can also be seen among the total population.

Statistics Netherlands speaks of problematic debts if at least one person in a household has a large payment arrears at, for example, the Tax Authorities or the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB). Someone lives under the poverty line according to the new definition of Statistics Netherlands if there are “too few financial resources in the household for the minimum necessities of life”. In addition, Statistics Netherlands takes into account the amount of income compared to fixed costs such as rent and energy costs, so that the limit per person can be different.

According to the new definition of the CBS, 540,000 now live below the poverty line, more than 3 percent of all Dutch people. The Central Planning Bureau (CPB) expects that the number of poor will decrease in the coming years, but that the ‘poverty intensity’ will rise. Whereas in recent years, the poor had a disposable income of around 10 percent below the poverty line, this will rise to 20 percent in the coming years.

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