Cutting municipal budgets will increase inequality, deteriorate trust in gov't: SCP
The national government’s cuts to municipal budgets will increase inequality and further deteriorate the already low trust in politics, the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) said in its Social and Cultural Developments Report.
“Our advice is: if you do not want to increase inequality, do not cut back on municipalities,” SCP researcher Roel Willems said to NOS. “Make sure that they can retain their social role.”
Next year, the national government plans to cut 2.3 billion euros from the municipal fund, which is used to pay for municipalities’ mandatory tasks ranging from waste collection to youth care. Unlike the national government, municipalities are not allowed to go into debt. So they will have to cut back on services and increase local taxes to fill the hole left by the government’s budget cut.
According to the SCP, this will directly impact citizens who are already struggling socially, financially, and in terms of health. “We are talking about people with piles of problems here,” Willems said. “You are talking about quite a lot of people: around 1.3 million. In the past, there have already been major cuts in the aid for this group. This aid is now in danger of being further reduced and we find that worrying.”
If that happens, this group of people risk not only losing confidence in the government, “but also in each other, because they feel like they are on their own,” Willems said.
The SCP also noted that Dutch society as a whole has little trust in politics, despite a brief revival after the start of the New Cabinet. Only half of Dutch people give their trust in politics a passing grade.
The planning office noted that trust in the government fell specifically among highly educated groups - people who tend to have more trust in the government and its institutions. People with higher education qualifications still have more trust in parliament than people who only completed up to pre-vocational secondary education, but there is no longer a difference in these groups’ trust in the government.
The SCP said the coalition’s “big promises that subsequently turn out to be unachievable” are a driving factor in falling confidence in the Cabinet and the four ruling parties.
“Citizens feel that politics and the government are failing to solve the problems in our country (such as the housing shortage, nitrogen problems, and migration). In addition, many people do not feel heard by those in politics and the government, they feel that they are not represented by them and, as far as they are concerned, justice is under pressure.”
The SCP also expressed concern over the poor personal manners shown by politicians, divisiveness, and driving people with differences into hardened, uncompromising attitudes. “It is important to be aware of this because it puts the legitimacy of our democracy under pressure.”
The SCP will present its report to parliament on Tuesday and explain its findings.
