Toespraak van staatssecretaris Jetta Klijnsma op 21 januari 2010 in Madrid: What has the Lisbon Strategy meant for the target of reducing poverty?

Nieuwsbericht | 20-01-2010 | 23:00

What has the Lisbon Strategy meant for the target of reducing poverty: points of view of different member states and review of experiences – intervention by State Secretary Jetta Klijnsma for Social Affairs and Employment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 21 January 2010 in Madrid

Ladies and gentlemen,


  • Every year, in early December, most people in the Netherlandsreceive ‘parcels’ whose contents can range from the pleasing to the practical. Young and old alike take part. I see you’re already looking rather surprised. Perhaps you’re thinking: ‘Is this the Dutch way of combating poverty?’ Well no, it’s not. It’s the Dutch tradition to exchange gifts in the name of St. Nicholas, or ‘Sinterklaas’ as he is commonly known, on the fifth of December, his feast day ... just as happens at Christmas time in many other countries. Young children really believe in ‘Sinterklaas’ - who happens to come from Madrid. When we are celebrating this feast I often have to think of people who have to scrape to make ends meet.
    It is terrible for parents – and I have met many - who can’t afford to buy presents for their children. This too is poverty.
    Although, of course, if you can’t do what your neighbours and relatives can do it’s “only” relative poverty. This is what we usually mean by poverty in the Dutch context: relative poverty. In principle no one needs to go hungry or live on the streets. But poverty is often much more than just a financial problem.
  • The Dutch government believes that poverty is essentially about a lack of opportunities, about not being able to participate in society. Poverty is a lack of future prospects. Participation in work is an important aspect of social inclusion. Work gives people the opportunity to develop their talents and participate in society. The focus on jobs therefore forms the heart of Dutch social policy.
  • This mind-set has been the basis of a gradual shift in Dutch social policy since the early nineties together with the realisation that due to demographic change the labour market will grow increasingly tight. Higher labour market participation is therefore also important from a broader economic perspective.
  • The Dutch government considers it important to have an adequate subsistence minimum. This is also what we guarantee. But this is not our end goal. The end goal is to get everyone out of their isolation and into a position where they can participate in society. In our view, a policy that has the effect of keeping people off the labour market and depriving them of the opportunity to develop and to participate can no longer considered to be ‘social’.
  • Before the crisis the Netherlandshad a historically low unemployment rate of 3.9%, according to national definitions.
    Although this has risen significantly in the past year, the     Netherlandsis doing well in relative terms, with an estimated unemployment rate of 6.5% for this year.
  • The number of people on welfare was steadily decreasing before the crisis. This was due not only to a lower rate of influx but also to the longer-term efforts to get people off welfare and into work.
  • The aim of Dutch social policy is to achieve social inclusion through work or other forms of participation. However, the guarantee of a minimum income for people in need remains a vital instrument of social protection.
  • Income provision is supported by additional measures. To ensure that assistance reaches those who need it, poverty policy falls under the responsibility of the municipalities. We in central government try to provide them with as much support as possible. This is particularly important in times of crisis.
  • The issues on which I am focusing, as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment, can be divided into four categories:

-first, a category I have already mentioned - participation in society;

-second, the social inclusion of young people;

-third, encouraging the use of income support provisions;

-fourth, tackling the problem of over-indebtedness


  • Today I would like to discuss in particular the problems of youth employment and over-indebtedness.
  • Young people are the future and their talents should not be wasted. That is why I believe that young people should either be working or at school. Dutch government guarantees that after graduating, young people who are not able to find it themselves will be offered a job or further education. This is the core of the newly introduced Act: “investing in youth”.
  • To support this policy in times of crisis, we have allocated 250 million euros to combat youth unemployment and another additional 250 million euros for secondary vocational education. With the action plan “Youth employment” we aim to guide young people towards employment by focussing on job search and apprenticeships and traineeships. To give you an example, for this year we kept additional 10.000 graduates of lower vocational education without perspectives in the labour market longer in school.
  • With the plan my government has provided for a framework. The real work has to happen in the field. In late 2009 I concluded voluntary agreements with all our regions that each have their own plan to tackle youth unemployment, to ensure commitment of all relevant stakeholders: municipalities, schools, employers. This has resulted in a wide variety of initiatives.
  • This Monday for example I have visited a project in the city of Eindhoven. The project aims to help youth towards employment through education, and guidance with the search for internships (stageplaatsen) or jobs. The project is an example of different stakeholders working together with the shared goal of helping young people in need towards work.
  • The economic crisis and rising unemployment pose a heightened risk of poverty and increase the need for debt assistance.
    I think it is important that people should not get into difficulties by running up high debts. We are drawing people’s attention to this risk by providing information. It is important to realise there is always the risk to lose your job. Such events can have a major impact, especially on your income. If you do not adjust your expenditures in time, you can get into debt.
  • Because of the economic crisis we expect more of these problems will occur. Municipalities play an important role in preventing problematic debt and in actively pointing people in the direction of the available debt counselling and assistance services. Municipalities have sources of financing for combating poverty and providing debt assistance. In these days they will have to provide more and quicker assistance. Therefore, in addition to existing sources, the government has allocated an extra 130 million euros for debt assistance.

Ladies and gentlemen,

  • This European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion is also the year in which we have to decide on a successor to the Lisbonstrategy. As a result of the ongoing consultations the new strategy, EU2020, is gaining shape.
  • The Netherlandsfully agrees with the Commission that it would be best to agree on a limited number of headline objectives at EU level.
  • In the view of the Netherlandsthe post-2010 strategy should have a strong focus on sustainable growth and jobs. In the consultation document the Commission also broadly refers to the issues of social justice and poverty relief. The Netherlandsconsiders these topics to be of great importance and believes that the strategy should be instrumental in achieving such goals, without focusing on them directly in the new agenda. Existing programmes are better suited.
  • This brings me to the end of my address. As I said at the outset, the facilities and services in the Netherlandsare of a high calibre. Providing a good social safety net is not our end goal. Instead, this goal is to ensure that everyone can participate in society ... that everyone can earn his or her own income and has the opportunity to develop. But people who really can’t earn their own income receive a benefit. The Dutch government believes that work is the best way out of poverty and social exclusion.
  • I want to emphasize the influence of volunteers. It is good and important that people are willing to lend each other a helping hand. I am very impressed by the stories we heard this morning from the people experiencing poverty. They voice the challenges we have to meet. It underlines the political importance of bringing this issues to a good end and to put this subject high on the EU agendaAnd that is what we do today; as I began my statement with the presents coming from Madrid: let the victory start from Madrid!

Thank you.