Fewer Dutch live in poverty

The number of Dutch people living in poverty decreased from 1.2 million in 2013 to almost 1 million in 2016, according to social and cultural planning office SCP. The SCP attributes the decline to the improvement of the Dutch economy after 2013, NOS reports.

The SCP's definition of poverty is when people do not have enough money for basic needs, relaxation and social participation. The office works on a 'not-much-but-sufficient budget". That amounts to 1,139 euros per month for a single person, 1,550 euros for a couple with no children, and 1,850 per month for a couple with a child. Those who are 2,300 euros a year short on that budget are considered poor.

People on welfare, non-Western immigrants, and single mothers with underage children run the greatest risk of poverty, according to the SCP. In 2016 a total of 280 thousand children lived in poor homes, almost 9 percent of all Dutch kids.

Earlier this month Statistics Netherlands reported that the number of households with low incomes is on the rise. They are at risk of poverty. The difference between the SCP and Statistics Netherlands studies is that the stats office considers 1,040 euros per month for a single person as a low income, while the SCP uses 1,139 euros.