According to Ruud van den Tillaar, director of the Limburg Kredietbank, the 800 euros to compensate for low incomes from the cabinet is a drop in the ocean. “The people who are now in debt will probably not knock on our door for five years.”
The cabinet announced on Friday that it wanted to support people with low incomes in particular with a so-called purchasing power package. For example, the minima receive 800 euros in compensation, instead of the 200 euros that the cabinet came up with at the end of last year. In the long run, the government will also reduce VAT on energy and excise duties on fuel.
Appropriate balance
“800 euros is really too little. A structural solution must be found. Minimum wages and social assistance must increase, as up to date as possible,” sighs Van den Tillaar. “People with debts are becoming despondent at this time. Suppose you only have a hundred euros in income, and the costs rise to 105 euros. Then you already have a gap.”
“Even our professionals who supervise these people often find it difficult lately to make a suitable balance”, the director says. “It is also very complicated to find out which schemes people may be entitled to even more.” Someone who is in debt can claim 26 different schemes.
Buy new TV
The way in which people receive the 800 euros is essential, according to Van den Tillaar. “Scientific research has shown that people with debts make less rational choices. If the money is transferred in one go, it could be that they buy that new TV after all. ‘The rest will come later,’ they think. “
According to Van den Tillaar, it is best to transfer the amount of money directly to, for example, the energy supplier. “Then they will benefit structurally.”
43,000 euros debt
One way or another, he expects that this will lead to a greater influx of requests for help from ‘his’ Kredietbank. But not immediately: “Research shows that people with debts only report to us after five years. By then they have built up an average debt of 43,000 euros and they can no longer see the wood for the trees. have an effect, but that will take some time.”