Poverty aid varies by up to €2,500 per household across Noord-Brabant municipalities

Support for people living in poverty across municipalities in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant varies by thousands of euros per household per year, according to a large-scale investigation by regional newspapers. The gap reaches up to 2,500 euros annually, with major differences even between neighboring towns.

In one example, a single mother with two children in Best is more than 2,000 euros worse off per year than a comparable household in nearby Boxtel, depending on local support schemes and eligibility rules.

The findings come from research conducted by the Brabants Dagblad, Eindhovens Dagblad, and BN DeStem, which created three fictional low-income households to test municipal support systems. Researchers examined in detail what assistance would be available for everyday financial shocks, such as replacing a broken dryer or paying for an expensive dental treatment.

The study covered 57 municipalities and also reviewed support from dozens of Leergeld foundations and the Jeugdfonds Sport en Cultuur. These organizations assist children from low-income families, but available budgets and local access vary significantly by region.

One key benefit analyzed was the individual income supplement for people who have lived in poverty for an extended period. For a single mother with two children, this ranged from zero in several municipalities to 1,168 euros per year in Deurne.

For older residents with low pensions, the disparities were also substantial. In many municipalities, they receive no additional assistance at all, while in Helmond they may qualify for more than 2,500 euros per year in support.

Experts, municipal stakeholders, and people living in poverty criticized the uneven system. Esmah Lahlah, who recently left parliament to become an alderman in Amsterdam for PRO (formerly GroenLinks-PvdA), called the situation “distressing for people who, to put it bluntly, have to scrape together their income every month.”

Critics argue that the national government in The Hague should raise the statutory minimum income to reduce reliance on local supplementation. The Association of Dutch Municipalities also supports strengthening the baseline system, stating that it is better to “bring the foundation in order” than to leave municipalities to “patch things up.”