The number of single people and households living in poverty in the Netherlands has risen again this year to around 1.1 million, according to a new report by the government’s socio-cultural advisory group SCP and national statistics office CBS.

Single parent families, single people under the age of 65, immigrants and people living on welfare benefits are most likely to be living on or below the poverty line, the report shows.
Despite claims that pensioners are among the country’s poorest people, the report says this is not the case, despite a fall in spending power due to government policies.
Definitions
The SCP bases its research on what it defines as a ‘not much but sufficient’ income of €1,020 a month for a single person. Using this definition, some 7.1% of the population lived in poverty in 2011, compared with 6% in 2010.
The SCP calculations are based on what is considered necessary to eat, live, buy clothes and take part in social activities. For example, a couple with two children and net income of under €1,920 a month last year would be considered poor by the SCP.
The CBS takes a basic income for a single person of €960 a month as its definition. This puts the number of households living in poverty at 8.7%. Its poverty line for a family with two children last year was €1,810.
Both organisations forecast a further increase in the number of people living in poverty this year and in 2013. For example, the CBS says 9.4% of households will not have enough to live on in 2013, taking likely inflation and other effects into account.
Read the summary (Dutch)