Not All Rembrandt & Tulips
A bit late, but I only just spotted this from the English-language Radio Netherlands:
Two reputable Dutch research institutes have confirmed that poverty is on the increase in the Netherlands. In particular, families from non-western backgrounds and with limited education are finding themselves with less money to spend. Those behind the latest research have sounded the alarm about poverty growing still further among ethnic minority sections of the population and the tension that could result, especially in the larger towns and cities.
[…]
Their investigations have established that more than 10 percent of all Dutch households now have to manage on what is categorised as a ‘low income’. In the case of a single person, the upper limit of the low-income group stands at a net income of around 850 euros per month. That rises to approximately 1500 euros for a family with two children. A growing number of these families are already struggling with debt problems.
Defining ‘poverty’: To put this into some context, the level of poverty in the country reached its lowest point in five years back in 2002, and although – as stated – it has risen since then, it is still significantly lower than the level seen back at the beginning of the 1990s. It should also be remembered that we are not talking about the kind of poverty seen in developing nations. In the Netherlands, the poverty ‘line’ is based on a household not having sufficient funds to finance a government-defined minimum level of consumption or, if you prefer, purchasing power.
The current increase in the number of ‘poor’ households is particularly marked among sections of the Dutch population with a non-western background and lower levels of educational attainment. In this respect, the people in question are mainly of Turkish, Moroccan or Antillean descent and reside in the country’s big cities, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. People with a Surinamese background appear, generally speaking, to be slightly better off….
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