More poor working families in Amsterdam are to benefit from council extras for people with very low incomes, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

The city is shifting the cut-off point for extra help from 110% to 120% of the legal social minimum income – currently around €1,490 for a couple, before taxes and premiums.

The city has set aside an extra €20m to fund the additional help, on top of its existing budget of €60m for tackling poverty.

Children

City alderman Arjan Vliegenthart said one third of the extra cash would go directly to help 6,500 children growing up in poor households.

The money will be used to buy computers, school books and pay sports club memberships. ‘This means children are not suffering because of their parents’ low income,’ Vliegenthart told the paper.

Currently 83,000 households in the city have the right to extra help. The new definition will boost this by 15,000 households. Recent city council research said one in five Amsterdam households was officially poor.