In 2022, 3.8 percent of the Dutch population, approximately 637,000 people, had a low income and was therefore at risk of poverty. This is evident from figures published on Wednesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The percentage is considerably lower than in 2021, when approximately 5 percent of the Dutch population had a low income.
The percentage decrease is largely due to the energy allowance of 1,300 euros that people with a low income received last year, and to a lesser extent to a number of other income support measures. In 2022, all households would receive a 380 euro discount on their energy bill. If people with a low income had not received the extra financial help last year, the number of people at risk of poverty would have actually increased to approximately 989,000 people (5.9 percent). People with a low income will also receive the energy allowance in 2023.
Due to the financial government support, the number of children at risk of poverty in 2022 was also historically low. About 165,000 children lived in a family at risk of poverty, about 27,000 fewer than the year before. Of all people at risk of poverty, 24.2 percent lived in one of the four largest cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague or Utrecht), while 13 percent of the total population lives there. In Rotterdam, 7.9 percent of residents had a low income in 2022, the highest percentage of all Dutch municipalities.
The low-income limit represents a fixed purchasing power amount that CBS corrects annually based on price developments. The low-income limit for a single person in 2022 was 1,200 euros net per month. For a couple without children that was 1,690 euros, with two minor children 2,300 euros. For a single-parent family with two minor children, the limit was 1,830 euros.