At the end of March, the Netherlands had 433,000 people on social assistance benefits, 12,000 more than a year earlier. The increase was relatively strongest among young people, reports the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
For the fourth consecutive quarter, there are more social assistance recipients than one year previously. Social assistance-related benefits such as the income support for the self-employed (Tozo), which started in March last year due to the corona crisis, are not included.
There were more social assistance recipients in all age groups than a year ago, but the increase was relatively largest among young people up to the age of 27, at 3000 people. That corresponds to a growth of 9 percent. In the group of 27 to 45-year-olds this was an increase of 5000 (3 percent) and among the over 40s the increase was 3000 (more than 1 percent). For the third consecutive quarter, there were more people on social assistance in each age group than one year previously.
Stronger increase among people with a migration background
There were more social assistance recipients among both people with a Dutch background and people with a migration background, but the increase in the latter category was stronger. The number of social assistance recipients with a Dutch background increased by more than a thousand (1 percent), while the number of people with a Western migration background increased by a thousand (3 percent) and among those with a non-Western migration background by almost 9,000 (4 percent).
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