Nearly 853,000 expected to receive disability benefits this year

Dutch benefits agency UWV said it expects to see a continued increase in the number of people receiving benefits for temporary or permanent disability. The UWV said it expected to provide 852,800 benefits related to disabilities this year, compared to 840,100 a year earlier.

The influx of people receiving payment from disability benefit schemes has been increasing for years, particularly related to the WIA, the law covering labor and income related to the capacity for work. This is largely been attributed to the population of people over 60.

A portion of the increase is related to the increase in the state pension age, which means that people can make use of disability benefits for longer. The retirement age has increased in recent years and has been 67 since January 1.

The UWV has also assessed people over 60 who have been relying on the WIA since October 2022 in a more simplified manner. This is part of a broader package of measures to ensure that people do not have to wait as long for a social-medical assessment. As a result, more WIA benefits have been awarded to people over 60: in 2023 and 2024, this will amount to 3,200 additional benefits recipients per year. The measure expires at the end of 2024.

This year, more than 60,000 people are expected to enter the WIA benefits program. At the same time, the number of people who receive benefits under the WAO (Disability Insurance Act) and WAZ (Disability Insurance Act for the Self-Employed) is decreasing. Since 2006, the WIA has gradually replaced the WAO, which has very few new registrants, and the WAZ is considered an outdated scheme.

The UWV expects that the number of Wajong benefits will increase this year. This is the program for people who have a limited capacity for work due to disease or disability before they turn 18, or during their studies.

Last year, the benefits agency recognized that people have to wait far too long before they have certainty about being awarded a disability benefit. In 2022, more than 17,000 people were still waiting for an assessment. The UWV wants to reduce the maximum waiting time from nine months to seven months this year. The benefits agency emphasized that not all of its clients wait that long for an assessment.

The UVW has insufficient capacity to carry out all of the assessments. For example, the number of doctors specialized in handling insurance claims previously decreased sharply. This was because experienced doctors retired and younger colleagues replaced them, who often still needed training and were less productive.