One in ten NL residents don't have enough to eat: Red Cross
Despite all the government measures to boost purchasing power, the group of people who don’t have enough to eat has not decreased in the past two years, the Red Cross said based on research conducted by Ipsos I&O. Nine percent of respondents say they sometimes have too little food, the same as in 2021, NOS reports.
Fourteen percent said they face food shortages—they don’t necessarily have too little food, but their food is unhealthy or not varied enough. About half of this group said they couldn’t afford a proper diet, and many also said they didn’t have the time.
The Red Cross identified at least 450,000 adults who suffer from “hidden food shortages.” They need and want help but don’t get it, for example, because their income is too high for the food bank. Some are also ashamed to ask for help or don’t like having to explain their finances to get support. Some are unaware of the options they have to get aid.
Suzanne Segaar of the Red Cross called 450,000 people with hidden food shortages a “very large number” and a low estimate. The Red Cross hears many accounts of parents skipping meals so that their children can eat, or drinking lemonade instead of a hot meal to save money. “You wonder how this is possible in the Netherlands,” she told NOS.
The Red Cross figures seem to contradict Nibud and DNB studies showing that poverty in the Netherlands is decreasing and more people are able to make ends meet, partly due to government measures. According to Segaar, many people first pay their fixed costs before thinking about grocery shopping. “Food is a final item. And sometimes there is no money left for sufficient or healthy food,” she said.
The Red Cross distributes weekly food vouchers, with which people can buy around 20 euros worth of groceries at a supermarket, to around 30,000 households in the Netherlands. The aid organization started this as a temporary measure during the coronavirus pandemic, but the need remains. “We believe that we should not be needed, but unfortunately, that is still the case,” Segaar said.
