The number of pensioners claiming welfare benefits because they are not entitled to a full state pension has more than doubled over the past 10 years, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

Nine out of 10 claimants have an ethnic minority background and have not lived in the Netherlands long enough to qualify for a full state pension.
In total, some 40,000 pensioners are claiming extra cash help.
The over 65s need to have lived in the Netherlands from the age of 15 in order to qualify for a full state pension. This means that people who came to the Netherlands to work at the age of 20, are only eligible for 90%. If they have no other financial means, they can claim welfare (bijstand) to make up the difference.