Junior social affairs minister Ahmed Aboutaleb has withdrawn his plans to reduce the time widows and widowers with young children can stay at home after the death of their partner.

Aboutaleb wanted widows and widowers to return to work after two years as part of his proposed changes to the unemployment benefit system, says the Volkskrant.
Instead, widows and widowers will be visited by a council worker after two years to see whether they can return to work.
He told parliament he thought leaving someone to their own devices for longer than two years was not socially responsible. ‘People are better off when they are involved in society,’ the paper quotes him as saying.
At the moment, bereaved parents are allowed to stay on unemployment benefit until their children reach the age of 18.