Poverty and debt policy

Introduction

By order of the Dutch cabinet the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) carries out research on poverty and the social exclusion of children. On 30 August Mr Paul de Krom, state secretary of Social Affairs and Employment presented a report to the House of Representatives titled "Destined for disadvantage? Poverty and social exclusion during childhood and 25 years later". It is the third report in a series of four.

Research

The report deals with children who grew up in poverty in 1985. The question is if today, as adults, they are still poor and socially excluded. The report shows that 93% of those who were poor in childhood are not poor in later life. This leads to the conclusion that children are not destined for poverty, nor do the children who were poor in 1985 live in poverty now that they are adults. The SCP report mentions four risk factors for poverty: education, employment and dependency on social benefit, social participation and health.

Prevention

Children who live in poverty do not necessarily continue to do so in adulthood. However, the longer children live in poverty, the higher the risk that they will still be poor in adulthood. A lower level of education means more poverty and social exclusion. According to the research report the level of education of the parents, the father in particular, has an impact on the child's level of education. The cabinet emphasizes the importance of social participation through paid work. Parents thus serve as an example to their children. That is why measures to prevent poverty focus on parents as well as on children.

European food aid programme

Since September 2010 a proposal from the European Commission to spend 500 million euros on the EU food aid programme has been waiting for a decision from the member states. Some member states, including the Netherlands, oppose the proposal. The idea is to use this money to purchase products which are then distributed to food aid programmes for the most deprived people in the European Union. In a letter to the House of Representatives the Dutch Food Bank Foundation wrote it would like to participate in the EU food aid programme.

The state secretary of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation replied that the Dutch government does not intend to make use of the EU 's most deprived persons food aid programme. The Cabinet considers providing support to food banks to be a responsibility of individual member states rather than the European Union.

Employment and poverty

A "working poor person" is a person whose overall household income is below the so-called low-income line. A person who works just a couple of hours per week or per month and who lives on benefit for the rest, is not considered to be employed. 3% of the households of working people earn an income below the low-income line. This percentage has been stable for about ten years now. Poverty among people with paid jobs often is a temporary problem. It is often due to the low number of working hours.

In its research report SCP comes to the conclusion that paid work often is the best way out of poverty. The Cabinet agrees to this conclusion and focuses mainly on those at the bottom of the labour market and on senior citizens. The aim of the cabinet is to reduce the number of people in jobless households by 100,000 in 2020. This is the Dutch contribution to the European target of reducing the number of people who are victim of poverty or social exclusion by 20 million.

Report "Destined for disadvantage" - English summary
European Commission - free food for the most deprived persons in the EU