‘At least 73,000 households in money problems within 3 months after job loss’ | NOW

Tens of thousands of households quickly run into financial problems after the income of the breadwinner, despite the social safety net of the unemployment benefit scheme and the Temporary bridging scheme for self-employed entrepreneurs (Tozo). That becomes clear on Friday research of the Central Planning Bureau (CPB), in collaboration with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).

The two institutes conclude in their stress test for households that the self-employed are especially vulnerable. Their risk of not being able to make ends meet within three months due to job loss is four times greater than for employees. The government support program helps this group a little more: without the Tozo scheme, they were ten times more vulnerable than workers.

Despite the social safety net, 106,000 households can survive no more than six months if the breadwinner loses their income, write the CPB and the AFM. 73,000 households, of which 25,000 are self-employed and 48,000 employees, can do this for no more than three months. If the partner also loses income, the number of households that quickly get into financial trouble will increase by another 20 percent.

The CPB warns that the most vulnerable households with the lowest incomes lose their jobs most often in times of crisis. This group has little room to improve the financial situation, which means that they are more often designated to non-regulated loans as payday loans. According to the planning bureau, this could lead to an unsustainable debt burden. “Therefore, additional support from the government may be needed after they lose income,” said the CPB.

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