Most children in the Netherlands who are born into very poor families manage to escape the poverty trap when they grow up, according to new research by the government’s socio-cultural planning bureau SCP.

The researchers looked at children who lived in poor families in 1985 and found 93% of them now live above the breadline.
Nevertheless, children born into poor families still have a 7% chance of being poor themselves, almost double the risk of poverty for other children, the SCP says.
This is because they are more likely to have a lower level of education, making it harder to find a job, the SCP says.
Despite the findings, the SCP says the government and institutions should be more focused on the effect of poverty on children. ‘There is a structural problem for a small group of children who are also affected by poverty when they grow up,’ the report said..
The organisation defines a poor household as one which is unable to pay for minimum needs over a longer period of time.
Last year, the SCP said 9% of Dutch children are growing up in poverty.