Some 200,000 children in poverty in the Netherlands; Thousands can’t afford eyeglasses

Childhood poverty is a persistent problem in the Netherlands. Last year, Stichting Leergeld, a foundation that supports families in need with school supplies, helped 200,000 children. And a recent study commissioned by the Ministry of Public Health found that thousands of kids need eyeglasses, but their families can’t afford them.

“We’re shocked by these last numbers,” Alexandra Bartels, director of Stichting Leergeld, told RTL Nieuws. The foundation helped 7 percent more children than in 2024.

The foundation called it striking that it is increasingly receiving requests for help from working parents. “The costs of housing, energy, and healthcare remain high, while incomes are lagging behind,” Bartels said.

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) also recently reported an increase in the number of workers living below the poverty line. In 2024, the most recent figures, there were 175,000 working Dutch people living in poverty, over 25,000 more than the previous year.

A recent study by Amsterdam UMC and Ipsos I&O, commissioned by the Ministry of Public Health, also found that thousands of children in the Netherlands need eyeglasses, but don’t have them because their families can’t afford them, NOS reported.

Based on existing studies, the researchers estimate that a total of 634,000 children in the Netherlands need glasses because they are nearsighted or farsighted. This number is expected to increase, partly due to more screen use. Based on a survey by Ipsos I&O, they concluded that 16 percent of parents face financial barriers to getting their children glasses. They end up not buying glasses at all, postpone the purchase, don’t replace broken glasses, or opt for cheaper alternatives that don’t always meet their needs. The study isn’t fully representative of the Dutch population, Amsterdam UMC researcher Ruth van Nispen told NOS. But it does provide a realistic picture.

“Growing children need new glasses at least once a year, and parents spend an average of €275 on them. So, there are likely tens of thousands of children with unsuitable glasses,” Van Nispen said. “We estimate that 64,000 children below or just above the poverty line need glasses, and that thousands of them don’t have any at all.”

Exactly how many kids are living in poverty in the Netherlands is unclear. According to the most recent figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 93,000 children lived in families functioning below the poverty line in 2024.

Many children also live close to the poverty line. Adding these kids to the poor families, you get around 338,000 children living in families struggling or unable to make ends meet, a spokesperson for Nibud, the national institute for family finance information, told RTL.

Foundations like Stichting Leergeld step in to help as many children as they can, but the number of applications continues to rise. “This cannot and must not continue,” Bartels said to RTL Nieuws. She advocates for national solutions, recommending free access to amenities like laptops and swimming lessons, and a simpler system for applying for assistance.

In September last year, Children’s Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer also urged the national government to take action. “We can no longer settle for one-off solutions. We need a comprehensive child poverty policy that provides structural support to families and prioritizes children’s development,” Kalverboer said. “Only a combination of long-term solutions and individual provisions can prevent thousands of children in the Netherlands from spending their childhoods in constant uncertainty.”