Prime Minister Mark Rutte cannot promise that the cabinet will already take action on Prinsjesdag to raise the social minimum, as advised by a committee last week. The prime minister points out that there is limited financial space for additional spending in next year’s budget.
The Social Minimum Committee has concluded that people living at or around the social minimum are several hundred euros a month short. To effectively fight poverty, one of the priorities of the coalition agreement, the minimum wage and social assistance need to be further increased. The costs of the necessary interventions are estimated by the Committee at 6 billion euros a year.
Profit alert
Rutte calls the commission’s report “major work” that requires “serious study.” But it gives a profit warning. “Of course the margins are tight,” she says. The government already has to borrow around 30 billion euros this year. “We can do this because we have a low national debt. But of course it’s not even about an infinite possession.
Opinions differ widely within the governing parties on the follow-up to the minimum wage inquiry. The VVD has already announced this week that it sees no reason to further increase benefits and insists on the importance of work as a means of getting out of poverty. Coalition partners D66 and ChristenUnie think it’s important to get started quickly with recommendations.
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
