Reform welfare holiday allowance: VVD

The VVD believes that every two weeks of holiday for those on welfare must be preceded by six months of job hunting. The liberal party is now trying to constrict holiday rights for those living off the state. 

"First a letter of application, then the bikini", says Sjoerd Potters, MP for the VVD. The party wants the Welfare law to be amended so that people on welfare build up vacation rights, just like people with a job or unemployment benefits.

According to Potters, people on welfare should get the right to two vacation days per month. In this way, it would take a year before a proper holiday could be taken.

In this way, the liberal believes that the unemployed can increase their chances of finding a job. "Research shows that the biggest chance you have of finding a job is in the beginning. The longer you're on welfare, the more difficult it is to come out of it", Potters tells the Algemeen Dagblad.

Branko Hagen of the National Client Council, which represents those on welfare, the VVD's plan is not going to work. On a Parliament level, welfare rules have become stricter, Hagen says. "But the number of people on welfare does not go down, it is actually rising."

Hagen believes that the VVD has a false idea about the amount of luxuries that people on welfare can afford themselves. "Often it's at most a week in an acquaintance's caracan. I don't see how this helps people get a job quicker."

Currently, people who are on benefits have a right to four weeks stay abroad, regardless of how long they have been receiving allowances.