Dutch Cabinet scraps plans to cut half a billion euros from youth care budget in 2025

The plan to slash spending on youth care by more than 500 million euros in 2025 will not happen, the caretaker Cabinet said. The coalition still leading the Dutch government announced the decision as part of the Spring Memorandum, one of the annual updates on the state of the national budget.

The memorandum was published by the Cabinet on Monday. A total of 511 million euros in structural cost savings was to be slashed from youth care by 2026 as part of the Rutte IV coalition agreement. This amount was in addition to a previous cut of 1 billion euros to the sector, which is still being implemented.

Instead, the 511 million euros in additional cuts will need to be decided by the new Cabinet. Four parties have been negotiating since the November elections to form the Cabinet: the PVV, BBB, NSC and VVD. The latter is the party of current Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Already, the current Cabinet punted on cutting an additional 100 million euros that was supposed to begin in 2024.

The cutbacks were already very controversial in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament. Many municipalities with youth institutions were also opposed to the additional cuts, because the sector is struggling with many problems such as staff shortages and long waiting lists. As a result, many children who need care or protection find themselves in trouble and having to wait.

In order to achieve savings from 2026, a personal contribution can be introduced that parents will have to pay, the Cabinet said. They are preparing the regulations needed to accomplish this, but will leave it for the next Cabinet to decide whether to try to enter them into law.