Hundreds of thousands of people have begun eating into their savings to keep up their current lifestyles, according to research by Friesland Bank quoted in the Volkskrant.

The survey, based on a representative sample of 1,000 people, shows the Netherlands’ seven million households have four billion euros in savings – but that one million people are now taking money out of special savings accounts.
Of them, 400,000 need the money in order to make ends meet.
‘The most surprising finding is that so many highly educated people earning more than €40,000 a year are affected,’ said spokeswoman Tessel Horsman. ‘They have not yet introduced structural changes to their spending patterns and still go on holiday twice a year or run two cars. People with lower incomes have already made changes.’