Most poor children in the Netherlands escape from poverty

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.

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