Nine percent of people on welfare benefits have a part-time job, according to research by social services organisation Divosa.

Around 20% of them move out of welfare benefits into a full-time job. Of the welfare claimants who do not work, just 7% find a full-time job, Divosa said.

Social services benefit from the part-time workers, saving €350m a year in payments. However, there are additional administration costs. ‘If you receive welfare and also work, social services have to work out how much of the extra money you are allowed to keep,’ René Paas from Divosa told broadcaster Nos.

Last month, Hans de Boer, head of employers’ organisation VNO-NCW, said welfare benefit claimants are ‘lazy wastrels’ who could and should be put to work immediately.