People claiming welfare benefits (bijstand) are not serious enough about finding work and councils should do more to make sure they do apply for jobs, according to junior social affairs minister Paul de Krom.

There needs to be a ‘cultural shift’ to ensure benefits are seen as a last resort not a choice, De Krom said in a briefing to MPs.
De Krom was reacting to the results of a ministry probe into people’s motivation for finding low-skilled jobs. The survey showed only 43% of welfare claimants think it important to want to find a job and 49% would not be prepared to put up with long commuting times. Nor are they keen on temporary jobs, the survey shows.
Sanctions

Although claimants can face sanctions if they refuse to take suitable jobs, local councils rarely take action, the minister says. Just 14% said they had been given a warning or faced sanctions for not doing enough to find work.
There are enough jobs in low-skilled sectors, ‘given that they are currently being done by 300,000 people from central and eastern Europe’, the minister said in his briefing. But employers want motivated workers, and this is where central and eastern Europeans score, the minister said.
Temporary work
Just one third of welfare claimants have signed up at staffing agencies even though almost six out of 10 low-skilled vacancies are filled via temporary employment bureaus.
‘Benefit agencies must stimulate welfare claimants to accept temporary jobs. Temporary work is always better than benefits,’ De Krom said. ‘In addition, almost half of temporary workers end up in regular work.’
Some 350,000 people in the Netherlands currently claim welfare benefits, of whom a growing number are poor pensioners.
Survey
According to Trouw, the ministry survey is based on 358 completed questionaires and over half the people who replied had not applied for a job in the month the survey was taken.
Many more people were approached to take part, but 85% did not bother to reply, Trouw said.