Some students to get €400 for energy costs; Others households to get up to €1,300

Many higher education students may soon be able to receive a supplementary benefit to help manage their energy bills, Carola Schouten, the minister for poverty policy, said on Monday. The benefit will amount to 400 euros for the next academic year. National student union association LSVb said it was shocked by the Cabinet's plans, calling 400 euros far too little, and the conditions far too strict. Additionally, low-income households will again be able to apply for a 1,300 euro supplement to help with energy bills, like last year.

Some municipalities increased the amount by 500 euros last year, so that residents could also bridge any gaps during the first half of 2023. These municipalities can still pay those households another 800 euros this year.

Students, including those who live in student rooms, will be eligible for the 400-euro supplementary payment when the proposal is approved. The students will receive the money through DUO. It is not yet known when the money will be on their account.

The supplementary grant is intended for students whose parents have a relatively low income. "The Cabinet's vision is that the financial situation of students is a shared responsibility of the government, parents and students themselves," the Ministry of Social Affairs wrote in a statement.

The allowance will not apply to students who have taken longer to complete their studies, and are therefore no longer entitled to the performance-related grant. DUO does not know whether those people live independently or if they still live with their parents. "In the coming period, the Cabinet will make an ultimate attempt to find out how it can accommodate the increased energy costs for students who need it," the Ministry of Social Affairs said.

The amount is lower than the 1,300 euros that others with a low income were able claim directly from the municipality. Previously, students were unable to claim this benefit, but in Amsterdam the court ruled that students were wrongly excluded from this program. In Utrecht, the municipality itself decided to grant a number of students the benefit.

The Cabinet said the new 400-euro energy payment for students satisfies the requirements set forth by legal ruling about the energy allowance. They also claimed that, even though the benefit is lower than what others receive, it meets the advice to the Cabinet from the Council of State.

The LSVb announced plans to file a lawsuit against the government, saying that the 400 euro payment is too law, and the conditions were set up in a way to block the vast majority of students from receiving the benefit. The LSVb calculated that approximately 100,000 of the 800,000 students in the Netherlands will eventually qualify for the allowance.

In the past year, the student union was involved in many lawsuits from students living away from home who did not receive an energy allowance because they were studying. In winning those cases, the judges ruled that there was an unfair distinction between students and others.

Since those rulings only applied to the specific students who had filed the lawsuit, the government stuck to its decision that students should not receive an energy allowance. Monday's decision also does not apply retroactively to them either, and LSVb chair Elisa Weehuizen wrote in a statement.

She said the 400 euro payment was basically pulled out of thin air. "Given the financial situation of students, especially if they live independently, it is not enough. It should be towards the amount for all minimum earners, 1,300 euros," Weehuizen said.

She also called it painful and incomplete to prevent students who are taking longer to complete their studies from receiving the energy allowance. Weehuizen argued there was "no legitimate reason" to subject minimum-earning students to stricter conditions than others.

The LSVb chair was also highly critical of the ministry's working methods, saying that the ministry was completely unwilling to have a conversation about the issue. "That is not how a democratic process should go. The ministry is not taking the situation of students seriously. In extreme cases, students were left out in the cold last winter, and some students even had to stop their studies because they couldn't make ends meet. That is a major violation of the accessibility of education in the Netherlands."

"The energy bill is lower than last year, but still a lot higher than before. With the energy surcharge, we were able to help people in a targeted way last year to keep their heads above water," Schouten said. "Municipalities have made a huge effort to make this possible and I am very grateful to them for being willing to do this again before 2023."