Third Deputy Prime Minister Rutte and Social Security Minister Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament. In it, she calls to change the legislation on the provision of social assistance, proposes to shift the focus from bureaucratic checks (as far as citizens need benefits) to real assistance to people who need it.
Minister Schouten is convinced that the motto “Take care of each other” (“Omzien naar elkaar”), which became the title of the coalition agreement in force in Parliament, should be filled with real content. For this reason, she sent a letter to parliamentarians, which should be the first step towards more humane social legislation. The full text of the letter can be found here to register:.
The minister believes that the social assistance law in force since 2015 has helped many people in the Netherlands. However, the rules for its application are unnecessarily rigid and bring problems to some people who need help.
Minister Schouten believes welfare recipients should be entitled to gifts, jobs and other income — and still maintain benefits that supplement unsecured income to an acceptable level. The very receipt of social assistance should be facilitated and should not require multiple submission of data to various authorities.
The current legislation is excessively focused on the implementation of the rules for the provision of assistance to the detriment of the assistance itself. The current legislation is based on the image of the recipient of benefits as a person who is able to control his life in all its manifestations. However, in practice this is often not the case, and as a result, the laws do not work as they should. Too strict rules for providing assistance deprive those in need of legal grounds for receiving it.
An applicant for benefits must meet a lot of conditions, and help from friends and relatives can even deprive a person of the right to state benefits. This state of affairs is popularly called the penalty for compassion. Even allowing refugees to live in their own home can deprive the benefactor of the right to receive benefits. Minister Schouten is convinced that the time has come to change these attitudes in order to bring back humanity to public aid.
find out more about various grantswhich in the Netherlands are provided to those in need.
Publication Date: 13.07.2022
