News item | 19-12-2023 | 12:00
Carola Schouten, the Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions, today sent the progress report on tackling financial worries, poverty and debt to the House of Representatives. In this progress report, the minister discusses the current state of affairs regarding combating poverty. According to the report, the poverty figures show an encouraging picture. At the same time, there are signals from social organizations that social services are being called upon even more than before.
Minister Schouten: “In the Netherlands you should be able to make a decent living. This means being able to buy new clothes when the children need them and having solid ground under your feet so that you can make plans for the future. Due to the high inflation, many people are struggling to keep their heads above water. Combating poverty therefore meant rowing against the current. Thanks to the measures we have taken, the poverty figures show an encouraging picture. At the same time, we should not focus solely on those figures. There are many stories behind this of people who are struggling with debts, or who are just above the limit and cannot make ends meet due to certain costs.”
Poverty rates
In 2015, according to the Central Planning Bureau (CPB), 6.3% of people lived in poverty. In 2023, this number will have dropped to 4.8%. It is expected that it will remain the same in 2024. However, this estimate for 2024 does not yet include the additional increase in the statutory minimum wage and the associated benefits. To achieve the government’s target for reducing poverty, the figure must fall to 3.15% in 2030.
In 2015, 9.1% of children lived in poverty. In 2023, this number has fallen to 6.2%, and it is expected to drop further to 5.1% in 2024. By 2025, this share should have fallen to 4.6%.
The poverty line used by the CPB is the not-much-but-sufficient criterion of the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP). The basic principle is that a household lives in poverty if it does not have access to necessary goods and facilities for a longer period of time. The decline is a result of the government’s measures to dampen the consequences of high energy prices and of structural measures to combat poverty. For next year, these include the additional increase in the statutory minimum wage and the associated benefits, the increase in the child budget and the increase in the housing allowance.
Problematic debts
The number of households with problematic debts has been around 8% of households since 2015. In 2023 it will be 8.8%. The minister calls these figures worrying in the progress report. According to Statistics Netherlands, this growth is mainly the result of an increase in problematic debts with the tax authorities. It is suspected that the cause of this increase lies in social developments in recent years, including the suspension of collection and the corona postponement scheme for entrepreneurs.
The government is working on various measures to combat the debt problem. For example, the standard duration of a debt settlement has been shortened from three to one and a half years, so that people can get on with their lives more quickly. There is also a focus on early detection and there is an improvement plan for municipal debt assistance to improve reach and quality.
Being able to participate in society
Various measures have been taken so that people living in poverty can participate in society as much as possible. For example, the subsidy to SAM& – the partnership between Leergeld Nederland, Youth Fund Sport & Culture, National Fund for Children’s Aid and the Jarige Job Foundation – was increased by € 4.5 million one-time last year to € 14.5 million. Parents can contact these organizations to request money for, for example, a contribution to the football club membership fee or supplies for a birthday party. Partly due to the additional resources, the number of children reached by October 2023 has increased by 27% compared to 2022.
| Sam& party | Number 2023 | Increase compared to 2022 in % |
|---|---|---|
| Stichting Leergeld | 118,933 children | 22% |
| Birthday Job Foundation | 110,257 birthday boxes | 57% |
| National Children’s Aid Fund | 15,224 awards | 16.8% |
| Youth Fund Sports & Culture | 60,946 children | 19% |
To ensure that children do not go to school hungry, but can participate properly, the government has made a budget available for school meals in 2023. In 2024, the government will again make €166 million available so that approximately 400,000 children will be offered a school meal.
A current subsidy is currently being given to the Armoedefonds Foundation for setting up distribution points for menstrual products. Women and girls therefore have access to these products, even if they cannot afford them. The Poverty Fund has now set up almost 2,000 distribution points.
The government has also made money available for food aid to people who cannot make ends meet. A total of €3 million goes to the Red Cross and €1.7 million to the Food Bank Foundation, which purchases food and basic products for Food Banks Netherlands. The food banks will also receive €15.8 million from European funds.