Poverty in Netherlands increases for the first time in five years

Poverty in the Netherlands increased last year after five years of decrease, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. This was partly due to the elimination of the energy allowance for low-income households in 2024. This benefit decreased poverty in the preceding two years.

Last year, 551,000 people lived in poverty, representing 3.1 percent of the population. A year earlier, this figure was 2.7 percent.

CBS defines poverty as people who, after deducting certain fixed expenses, don’t have enough money left to pay for basic necessities like food, clothing, and social activities. For a single person, the poverty line was €1,600 per month last year.

CBS notes that the number of children living in poverty neither decreased nor increased. This share remained the same at 2.8 percent of all children in the Netherlands. The statistics agency attributes this to the child-related budget increasing last year.

Another group of 1.1 million people in the Netherlands was living near the poverty line last year. These households had an income 25 percent above the poverty line and savings and other assets below the line. In 2018, there were still 1.5 million people in the near-poverty category.

According to CBS, nearly half of the poor and near-poor people cannot ask family or friends for food. Most of them cannot make unexpected large expenses, replace worn-out furniture, or regularly buy new clothes. A quarter live in a household with problematic debt.

People living below or just above the poverty line are more likely to have health problems. Four in ten people in this group describe their health as poor, compared to two in ten in households with more money. The life expectancy of men with little money is nine years shorter than that of men with more money. For women, the difference is seven years.