Most households will have a little more to spend this year, but the rise is modest, and pensioners and the self-employed will see their earning power go down, according to new calculations by family spending institute Nibud.

“We will have a little more spending power because we expect wages to rise more quickly than prices,” Nibud director Arjan Vliegenhart said. “But if your wages don’t rise or inflation goes up further then there will be no increase.”

The minimum wage went up to €14.06 on January 1, along with the state pension and other benefits. Salaries are forecast to rise some 4.5%, and the government’s macro-economic think tank suggests inflation will be 3.2% in 2025.

Changes in taxes and premiums will also have a marginal effect on income, but the tax break for freelancers is being cut by €1,280, which means they will pay more tax.

Many pensions too will not be getting the index-linked company pension they had expected. “Company pensions were expected to rise by an average of 3.1%, but now pension funds have made their plans public, we can see that some will get a rise well below 3%,” Vliegenhart said.

Nibud has devised a tool to help households work out how much their spending power will change.