Fewer people receiving social assistance benefits compared to last year

The number of people receiving social assistance has fallen in the past year, especially among young people, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported based on preliminary figures. The numbers are contrasted with 2020, when there was still an increase compared to the previous year.

At the end of last year, 414,000 people received a general social assistance benefit up to the state pension age. That is 14,000 fewer on an annual basis and a decrease of more than three percent. In 2021 the state pension age was 66 years and four months, just like in 2020.

For young people up to the age of 27, the number of social assistance benefits fell by more than eight percent on an annual basis, which equates to more than 3,000 people. In the subsequent age categories, which included people up to and above 45 years, the annual decline was five percent and two percent less severe, respectively.

The coronavirus pandemic broke out in 2020, but the number of benefits related to the pandemic, such as the temporary bridging measure for self-employed professionals (Tozo), have not been counted in these latest figures.

According to Statistics Netherlands, more people stopped receiving social assistance than started, based on the most recent inflow and outflow figures dating from the third quarter of 2021. Nearly 20,000 people began receiving the social assistance benefit and almost 30,000 stopped. 

On an annual basis, 3,000 more people stopped receiving the benefits during this period. In those months, society was still largely open, before it closed again due to lockdowns.