Those affected by government errors remain in poverty for longer, only a few municipalities have already compensated them

Of the thousands of families who have been living in poverty due to a government error, often for years, the majority will probably only be traced and compensated in the course of 2024. Those involved say so NRC.

These people have to pay back benefits to which they are entitled, because different income schemes unintentionally get in each other’s way. As a result, their income falls below the subsistence minimum. They often miss out on hundreds of euros per year, resulting in poverty and a high risk of debt.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has been aware of this problem since 2017, but it was only in March this year, after an article in NRC and parliamentary questions, that the government announced that it was looking for a solution. The structural, national solution will not be there before 2028, it became clear on Budget Day. Until then, municipalities must look for and compensate victims.

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It now appears that most municipalities have not yet started doing this. “I know that a relatively small number of municipalities are working on this,” says Peter Heijkoop (CDA), poverty councilor in Dordrecht and director of the Association of Dutch Municipalities. Other parties involved in this file confirm that image.

Municipalities fear that tracing and compensating victims takes too much time. “We simply do not have the capacity,” says poverty councilor Marike de Nobel (GroenLinks) in Breda. “Our people are working hard to pay out the energy allowance. I can’t make them work eighty hours a week.” There is a “huge shortage of staff” in social services, says Heijkoop.

Many municipalities also find the matter complicated. Municipalities cannot do this alone, a Lansingerland spokesperson said. “We believe it is necessary for the ministry to take control.” Maassluis even calls it “so complex” that it is difficult to ask questions NRC could not answer this within a week.

‘Painful’

The government wants to help municipalities by drawing up lists of all victims. But it is still unclear when they will receive it. Amsterdam councilor Rutger Groot Wassink (Social Affairs, GroenLinks) thinks it is taking far too long. “We have known this for six years. But what exactly do we do? We just have to sort this out together.”

This poverty problem affects a very specific group of an estimated 6,400 ‘single-income couples’, couples in which one partner has their own income, usually a disability benefit from the UWV. In addition, some of them receive social assistance benefits from their municipality.

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These people receive approximately the same net amount of money in their account as couples who only receive social assistance benefits. But due to an unintended effect of very specific tax rules, their gross income becomes much too high. As a result, they have to pay back benefits to which they are entitled.

Groot Wassink believes that municipalities should not wait until they receive the list of victims. “These people have an extraordinary amount of difficulty making ends meet.” In the capital, victims are already actively traced and compensated. Just like in Nijmegen, Alphen aan den Rijn and Rheden.

The problem is that municipalities can only get an image of a small part of the victims: they only know victims who receive social assistance benefits. That is only 20 percent of the total group. The majority only have UWV benefits. To track them down, the proactive municipalities must also wait for the lists from the national government.

The Ministry of Social Affairs does not yet know when these lists will be completed. Drawing up this “takes time”, a spokesperson said, “also because of privacy safeguards”.

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