A project providing financial support to young people in difficult circumstances and helping them get their lives back on track is proving successful, RTL News reported on Friday.

The Bouwdepot project helps young adults aged 18 to 27 who may be homeless, have left school without qualifications, or face challenging home situations. Participants receive between €1,150 and €1,300 per month with no conditions attached.

Of the 61 young people in Eindhoven who took part in the first two phases of the scheme, 50% now have jobs, and 50% feel more confident about their future. The financial support gives them “the space in their heads and their wallets to work on their future,” Bouwdepot spokesman Peter Kwint told RTL.

One young woman in Eindhoven, for example, was homeless but has now learned to drive and set up her own taxi service.

The project has since been implemented in eight towns and cities: Eindhoven, Amersfoort, Den Bosch, Arnhem, Leiden, Delft, Groningen, and Rijnstreek (Alphen aan den Rijn/Nieuwkoop). Hilversum and Zwolle are set to launch their own initiatives soon and so far, around 200 young people have benefited from the scheme.

While the results are promising, and the youngsters have fewer debts and are more likely to have jobs, they would benefit from having more support in achieving their ambitions, research bureau Drift said in its report.

Junior social affairs minister Jurgen Nobel has also warned councils that they could be breaking the law on welfare benefits and earnings by giving the youngsters money with no strings, broadcaster NOS reported.

Other initiatives in the Netherlands also aim to break the cycle of unemployment and debt.

In Arnhem, a trial launched last April to help 40 low-income families escape debt has struggled due to a lack of participants. The two-year programme was designed to “break the toxic spiral of poverty,” with city officials arguing that taking over families’ debts would be more cost-effective in the long term.

Meanwhile, one of the Netherlands’ wealthiest families, the Van der Vorms, plans to pay off the debts of 1,000 Rotterdam families per year through its network of charitable organisations. It will invest at least €8 million in debt relief efforts, the AD newspaper reported.