Esmah Lahlah, the Tilburg alderman for poverty, sees that more and more people are getting into trouble because of the high energy and food prices. According to her, the municipality has ‘fewer and fewer buttons’ that it can turn to permanently help people with money worries. “Not only the minimum wages, but also people with an average income can no longer manage. The Hague really needs to take action now.”
As alderman for Social Security, Esmah Lahlah has been fighting poverty in her city for years. Tilburg is a leader when it comes to poverty alleviation and debt counseling. This is also apparent from the many experiments in which the city participates to help Tilburg residents before they end up deeply in debt.
“I get more and more harrowing stories in my mailbox and on social media.”
The alderman for Poverty does not yet have hard figures, but she does not need them to know that it is serious. “In my mailbox and on social media I get more and more harrowing stories from people who can no longer make ends meet. I also hear them on the street.” She receives the same signals from all kinds of aid organizations in Tilburg.
For example, she heard about a family with two working parents who were forced to switch after their energy supplier went bankrupt. “Their monthly costs went from 300 to 1300 euros per month. That is impossible to absorb. Then you think you have arranged it all well and something like this happens to you.”
According to Lahlah, many minimums have fixed energy contracts. “These are often contracts with relatively low gas and electricity rates. As a result, they are sometimes better off than dual earners who do not receive energy surcharges and who see the fixed costs increase by hundreds of euros due to a flexible energy contract.”
“You cannot solve a structural problem with temporary measures.”
For people who run into problems due to high energy prices, there is the Tilburg Support Fund (TOF) Foundation. “It is specifically intended for people who are not entitled to energy allowances before they managed to get by, but are now in a pinch.” Such a temporary financial support can be requested until 2 September via professional care providers, but also directly by residents themselves.
However, the alderman is clear about this arrangement: “It is a stopgap, structural problems cannot be solved with temporary measures.” Because where people with money worries often had no job or were deeply in debt, now people with two good jobs are knocking on the door for help. “What can you still do as a municipality? That is so frustrating.”
And although many minima still have a relatively affordable energy contract, the increased prices are also a serious problem for this group. “Before the war in Ukraine, it had already been calculated that people with a minimum income or on welfare would be short of 200 to 250 euros per month.”
“Wages have to rise structurally, we cannot solve this.”
The solution is actually simple, according to the alderman: “The Hague must restore purchasing power and that means that wages have to rise structurally. The group of people in need of money is so diverse, as a municipality we cannot solve all of that, even if we offer tailor-made solutions.”
It is urgent to do so: “The agreed increase in the minimum wage has still not been implemented.” She is afraid of a significant increase in the number of people in need of money. “I wonder if people dare to ask for help and that worries me a lot.”
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