Statistics agency sees sharp increase in young people on welfare

There was an increase in the number of people receiving welfare payments in the Netherlands during the last quarter. A total of 408,000 up to 67 years of age received welfare payments, which is over 4,000 people compared to a year ago and an increase of 1 percent. It was mainly young people who were on welfare, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported.

The number of people up to 27 years old receiving welfare payments rose hardest with a 7 percent increase, according to CBS. With this, the number of young adults on welfare increased by almost 3,000 people. There are now a total of 41,500 young adults on welfare in the country.

Among people aged 27 to 45, the number of benefit recipients rose by 2 percent to 139,000. According to CBS, the number of people on welfare in the oldest working group population has been fairly stable for a while. Last quarter, the number of people on welfare between the ages of 45 and 67 fell by 0.5 percent to 228,000.

There were more women on welfare than men in the first quarter. The CBS noted an increase in men receiving welfare payments. In total, around 180,000 men are on welfare, an increase of 2 percent. The number of women receiving welfare payments remained at around 228,000.