Minimum wage, childcare benefits & welfare payments set to rise on July 1

The Netherlands is implementing its mid-year law changes on July 1. Several changes will impact Netherlands residents in the wallets, including an increase in the minimum wage and linked social assistance benefits. Temporary rental contracts for homes will no longer be the norm, supermarkets can no longer sell tobacco products, and untaken vacation days expire on July 1.

Changes that will affect your wallet

The minimum wage gets indexed and adjusted to the growth of collective labor agreements on July 1. This year that means an increase of 3.09 percent to 13.68 euros per hour for employees aged 21 and older. The youth minimum wage also increases by that percentage. The outgoing Cabinet wanted to increase the minimum wage even more, but the Dutch Senate shot down that proposal.

Unemployment and disability benefits and the state pension are all linked to the minimum wage and will increase along with it.

The child benefit, the allowance for parents with children up to age 17, is also increasing in the second half of the year. According to the Social Insurance Bank (SVB), the amount goes up from the third quarter and will be credited in October.

As of July 1, parents of children who need extensive care and fall under the Long-term Care Act will automatically receive a double child benefit. The Ministry of Social Affairs relaxed the application procedure for this.

Other changes

Any unused statutory vacation days accrued in 2023 will expire on July 1, though some sectors have other rules based on their collective labor agreements.

From Monday, supermarkets in the Netherlands will no longer be allowed to sell tobacco products. Several supermarkets, including Albert Heijn and Lidl, have already implemented this ban. Smokers will have to go to tobacconists and gas station stores for their cigarettes. Smokers on Schiermonnikoog will have to go to the mainland.

Permanent rental contracts will be the norm again from July 1. Landlords can continue to offer temporary contracts for specific groups like students, but the intention is that for most tenants lease agreements will no longer be fixed for a certain period.