The government must allocate considerably more money to prevent people with low incomes from getting into financial problems. This is what the Social Minimum Commission says in a report presented today.
The committee recommends an increase in the minimum wage and social assistance, and possibly also the rent allowance. To combat child poverty, the child benefit or the child-related budget must be increased. That costs about 6 billion euros. The report ‘A secure existence; towards a future-proof system of the social minimum’ was presented today to Minister Carola Schouten (CU) for Poverty Policy.
Being able to participate in society
The advisory committee was set up by the cabinet following a motion that was adopted almost across the board to determine exactly what the subsistence level is. How much do people need to participate well in society? That question is relevant: inflation is rising, energy prices are high and many people depend on the food bank.
Extra money is needed, the advisory committee writes, to give people financial security. And that is not only about providing basic necessities of life, such as housing and shopping, but also about social participation, such as being a member of a sports club.
audio-play
Watch the TV report here.
Problems in poverty-stricken families
For its report, the committee also spoke to people with an income around the social minimum. Chairman Godfried Engbersen was impressed by their stories. “Then you see the uncertain existence. People shut down, stop doing anything and then you see all kinds of problems arise,” says chairman Engbersen. “Growing up in a poor family is at the expense of educational and future performance.”
“In recent decades, the theme of ‘social security’ has received less attention. We have focused strongly on work, work, work. The issue of social security touches on the theme of income, but we also see in the housing market that some people cannot get a home. We see it in the labor market, which has become flexible. We see it in education, the unequal opportunities. We see it in health care. This cabinet is trying to take measures to strengthen the floor in existence. The essential thing is that it social security system, the basic provision, that we will strengthen it.”
Always busy with money stress
If the government does nothing, people with a low income will be short of 100 to 500 euros per month in the coming years, depending on the composition of the household and where they live. And financial stress can lead to physical and mental complaints.
Soler Berk is one of the members of the Social Minimum Committee. He knows what it is like to grow up in poverty and what effect it has on children. “You also take over the stress from your parents, you also worry about your parents. They are always busy with money stress, with survival. This is also why the social minimum has to be raised: there is of course a difference between surviving and living. So they were surviving.”
also look at
‘Poverty literally keeps you small’: how inequality of opportunity works through a lifetime
6 billion
The proposals made by the committee involve an annual budget of 6 billion euros. A considerable amount, says committee member Berk, but it also yields a lot.
“You have to take into account that if you do this, the impact on the other side will be better: on mental well-being, health, opportunity equality and people’s activation.”
Poverty policy Wageningen
The poverty policy differs per municipality. Wageningen has various schemes, including one for the purchase of digital resources. “We found out during corona that there was no digital resource in many households yet,” says alderman Guido van Vulpen, “no notebook or no laptop and then you can no longer participate in this society these days. The city council has extra money there made available.”
The starting point of the municipality of Wageningen is ‘what do people need to be able to participate in society’. “Not just food and money to go shopping and pay the rent, but once to a craft class, a dance class,” says Vulpen. “Just a little bit more, because if you can only survive, only have enough to eat and sleep, then you are outside society.”
also look at
Lower incomes no longer go to the dentist because of the costs: ‘Ibuprofen against the pain cheaper than the dental bill’
Schouten: simpler system needed
Minister Schouten says in a first reaction to the report of the Social Minimum Committee that ‘it has become a lot more difficult to combat poverty due to the sharp rise in prices, but that this has also made it even more necessary’. “We will include the recommendations of this report in the decision-making process for next year. We also need to take a more structural look at how we can ensure more social security.”
“This requires a simpler system that offers more certainty,” says Schouten. “So that people can find their way to the arrangements that exist.” In September, the Social Minimum Committee will publish a second report. This is about a different structure of the social security system. The government will respond to the report in the autumn.
call
To ask? Ask them!
Do you have any questions after reading this article or do you want to comment? Send us a message here in our chat.
2023-06-30 14:02:38
#Minimum #wage #social #assistance #increased #billion #extra #needed #lowincome #people #advisory #committee
