The government needs to develop a more realistic view of what the man in the street is capable of dealing with independently, a senior advisory committee said on Monday.

‘There is a very wide gap between what is expected of citizens and what they can actually deal with,’ the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) says in a new report.

For example, people used to get an annual overview of their pension, which they would keep in a file. ‘Today, long before retirement, people have to take action and make choices,’ the report says.

‘The self-employed are expected to keep their skills up to date and deal with new opportunities and threats. In terms of health, people have to take more responsibility for themselves… chose their own provider and play an active role in determining what treatment they should have.’

Much government policy focuses on a rational approach and the idea that more choice is always better, but people are not always able to make choices, the report states.

The government should, therefore, look again at the plethora of choices which people face, particularly in terms of financial provisions such as health insurance, disability insurance and pensions.

At the same time, the government apparatus should adopt a more personal approach to dealing with its citizens, rather than rely on automated processes when things go wrong, the report concludes.