FNV members to vote on pension deal, finally agreed after nine years

DutchNews, June 5, 2019

Ministers, unions and employers have reached a deal on reforming the Dutch pension system, nine years after talks first started. 

The agreement, which still has to be voted on by members of the FNV trade union federation, involves a slowdown in the planned increase in the state pension age and gives workers the option to retire early – both of which were key union demands. 

The new deal involves freezing the state retirement age at 66 years and four months for the next two years. After that it will increase in increments until it hits 67 in 2024. 

Then onwards, the state pension age will continue to rise in line with increases in life expectancy – based on an eight month increase for every year we live longer. 

The talks had broken down last November when the unions walked out but resumed earlier this week after ministers indicated some compromises were on the table. 

For example, ministers have agreed to bring in some form of early retirement scheme which is aimed at people doing heavy physical work but which is open to everyone. 

The scheme is most attractive to people on low incomes. Employers will have to pay a fine if workers earning more than €19,000 a year quit early. The money, ministers say, will compensate for the loss of premium and tax income. 

It will also be easier for the self-employed to join a pension fund, but it will not be compulsory. 

Insurance 

However, freelancers will be required by law to take out insurance against becoming unable to work through illness. This, commentators say, was one the demands made by GroenLinks and the social democratic party PvdA in return for their support in steering the deal through the senate. 

There may be an opt-out for people who show they have sufficient reserves to support themselves. Currently just 20% of freelancers have such a policy, and the cost runs into hundreds of euros a month. 

More details about this part of the agreement are due in the coming days. 

Fund changes 

Pension funds will also have the option of offering employees two sorts of pensions – one in which the premium varies in line with interest rates and one in which funds can take more risk – and spread that risk over all participants, broadcaster NOS said. 

Although employers organisations and smaller unions have backed the new plan outright, the FNV has said it is up to the members to decide whether or not to support the new deal.

Chairman Han Busker said he expects a ‘tough discussion’ with members but said the agreement as it now stands is ‘justifiable’.

Dutch pension system leads world ranking, reforms still far off

DutchNews, October 22, 2018

Photo: DutchNews.nl

The Dutch pension system is once again the best in the world, according to the annual Global Pension Index. 

Denmark overtook the Netherlands seven years ago and had led the ranking, compiled by consultancy group Mercer, since then. It is now in second place, but the difference with the Netherlands is just 0.1 percentage point. 

‘Both offer A-Grade world class retirement income systems with good benefits – clearly demonstrating their preparedness for tomorrow’s ageing world,’ Mercer said. 

The consultancy looked at the pension systems of 34 countries this year. Bottom of the list was Argentina. 

The new ranking comes at a time when government pressure is mounting on both unions and employers in the Netherlands to reach a deal on changing the Dutch pension system. 

In particular, the government is known to be keen to introduce ‘personal pension pots’ to bring more flexibility into the pension system. Currently, the Dutch corporate pension sector is dominated by industry or company-based schemes. 

An agreement on how to move forward between unions and employers would then form the basis of new legislation. 

However, the FNV trade union federation says the cabinet must come up with more money for the state pensions by freezing the pension age, if it wants the unions to make a deal on reforming the entire system. 

The state pension age in the Netherlands is currently 66 but will rise to 67 and three months by 2022.

Pay gap between men and women is getting smaller: research

DutchNews, May 11, 2016

The pay gap between men and women in the Netherlands continues to get smaller, according to new research by salary calculation website Loonwijzer and jobs site Monsterboard. 

The wage gap in 2015 was around €1,660, or about 5%, the research showed. This was down from 5.8%  in 2014.

‘In some jobs, the wage gap is even smaller and in some sectors women are earning more than men,’ Loonwijzer spokeswoman Paulien Osse told broadcaster RTLZ. 

For example, women working in the transport and logistics sectors earn around 1% more than men while in the construction sector their income is about equal. 

Minimum wage

This is because pay rates in these sectors are around minimum wage levels, so there is little room to differentiate, Osse said. In addition, men and women working in these sectors tend to do completely different jobs. 

By contrast, the pay gap is largest in sectors where traditionally many women work, such as care and education. There the pay gap is around 15%. This is largely due to the prevalence of part-time work, Osse said. 

This means that men largely occupy the better paid management functions.

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"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version) - New

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

"The Energy of the Future" (2) - Dec 7, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“..  The New 'Message' from Space

Let me tell you what the message is that is being communicated: Unlock to 44 percent! This is the message: The Human race has passed the marker and is ready for the next step in evolution. I am talking about the old soul. You are the ones who will be first to get this message. It is you, and some of your "old soul" children, who are starting to feel and accept this!

Let me tell you in this lesson today that the first thing that this unlocking will begin to create is what we're going to call Akashic acuity. You're going to start remembering, and it's about time. Can you celebrate this? It's about time that when you're born you don't start from scratch, in the dark, and doing everything all over again. Instead, you remember!

I want to talk to some individuals who are listening to this and are in this room. Have your grandchildren had the audacity to tell you who they used to be? Don't raise your hand; I know you're here. They feel it, and they know it, and out of the mouths of these babes come the most profound information that this planet has ever heard! They knew who they were! Some will point their fingers at you and say, “Don't you remember? I was your mum in another life.” That's a bit disconcerting, isn't it?  …”

Councils want changes to welfare rules, plan experiments with ‘more friendly’ approach

DutchNews, December 7, 2015

Junior social affairs minister Jetta Klijnsma is in talks with four Dutch cities about experiments they want to run to relax the rules governing welfare benefits. 

Utrecht, Groningen, Wageningen and Tilburg want to overhaul the current welfare rules so that claimants would not have to continually apply for jobs and go on ‘reintegration’ courses, the Volkskrant says on Monday. 

The councils think a more friendly approach will work better and cost less than the current regulations. The four cities will meet Klijnsma again next week with more concrete plans. All experiments with alternative ways of dealing with welfare benefits (bijstand) have to be approved by her. 

The Volkskrant says a number of other cities, including Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Amsterdam, are also working on new ways of dealing with welfare claimants. 

‘Many people on benefits become paralysed by all the rules and checks,’ Eindhoven councillor Saskia Lammers told the paper. In particular, the government’s tone in dealing with claimants and its lack of trust in them have an impact, she said. ‘We have to stimulate rather than sanction,’ she said. 

Soft

In June, Utrecht city council said it planned to begin experimenting with a ‘basic income’ to replace the current complicated system of taxes, social security benefits and top-up benefits, if the government gave approval. 

Other cities, including Groningen, Maastricht, Gouda, Enschede, Nijmegen and Wageningen, are said to be looking along the same lines. 

VVD councillors in many councils oppose the ‘softer’ approach, the Volkskrant says. ‘You get the most out of people by challenging them, not allowing them to sit around doing nothing,’ said Amsterdam VVD councillor Marianne Poot. 

Rules

At the moment, someone claiming bijstand is required to apply for a number of jobs a month, take part in reintegration sessions, follow courses and do voluntary work. Council have to check they are meeting the conditions and to reduce benefits if they are not. Claimants who find a part-time job are allowed to keep up to €196 a month on top of their benefits.

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New research shows 85% of the Dutch are satisfied with life

DutchNews, November 2, 2015

Around 85% of the Dutch are satisfied with life, according to new research by national statistics office CBS. 

It is the first time the CBS has carried out in-depth research into the Dutch mood, and follows on from international studies. 

Around two-thirds of people say they are always or nearly always happy, with slightly more men than women taking an optimistic view. 

The research also shows women are more likely to be nervous and depressed than men. Some 72% of men say they are always calm, compared with 61% of women. By contrast, 91% of women think what they do is meaningful, compared with 87% of men. 

In addition, 94% of men and woman say they are satisfied with their relationships and 70% with their financial situation. But just one-third are happy with their weight and 30% are always worried about money. 

The most satisfied people live in Drenthe, Zeeland and Friesland. The least positive live in Flevoland but the differences are only marginal. 

The research looks at eight different aspects of life to develop its happiness indicator. ‘It is not just about money. It is about measuring a feeling,’ CBS spokesman Jan Latten told news agency ANP. ‘The focus in no longer just on gross national income but on gross national happiness.’

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"Not Your Father's New Age" / "Paradign Shift" (3) - Feb 14/15, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The New "Listening" Body

Number three: There'll never be a time in Human history that is more profound than this one, when it comes to how the body is listening to what you are saying. There is a process, and always has been, where the cells of the body are on alert to what the boss - you - wants. For years, we have been asking you to talk to your body, talk to your cellular structure. Now we're going to tell you that it's listening, even when you don't realize what you're automatically saying! It's now listening 24-7. So what are you saying to it?

This is now a time where negative dialogue will have more personal influence on you than ever before. Think about what you are saying in life as you move around socially. What is your attitude when you say it, and how often do you say it? Your body is listening. Dear Lightworker, part of your spiritual evolution is that the body, the innate, is now aware of everything. Now, you may say, “Well, that's nice.” It's more than nice; it's profound! If you don't listen to this and understand it, you will keep you aging in the same old way you have. This is why we have spoken of affirmations more than ever before. This is far more than just positive thinking. Every time you open your mouth, you have the potential to give instructions to your body, and it listens to you when you talk to it. Unfortunately, your habits are to tell your body that you are unworthy!

I want you to think about what you're saying. When somebody asks you about your health, about your spirituality, about your intent, or about your aging, do you say the words, “I am working on it. I am trying”? The result is the cells of your body say, "Well, she's working on it - she is trying," but (implied), "She doesn't have it yet." I want you to listen to yourself when you talk. Are you giving "less than" messages to your own body?

Perhaps I've said enough, but almost every single one of you comes from a culture that is proud of demeaning itself in some way. It's an old habit from old ways that are supposed to represent a gracious countenance. Someone wants to give you a gift or celebrate your birthday. How many of you automatically say, "You shouldn't have"? Do you realize that your actions and words are saying, “I don't deserve it" to your own innate? Your actions say, “I am unworthy.” Don't you think your body hears this or sees it? It does. It is time to get out of the unworthy closet, Lightworker! You are alive with God inside! Don't be afraid or ashamed to proclaim, “I am healthy, I am healed, I am youthing, I am in charge of the situation.” Not, “I'm working on it” or, “I'm trying.” That tells your body that it may happen someday, but not today. That's the difference. “I am worthy of happiness. I am worthy of a peaceful situation in my life. I am worthy of a solution in my life.”

When someone wants to give you a gift or celebrate your birthday, automatically say, "Thank you for this wonderful gift!" Your innate will hear, "I am worthy of this gift of appreciation from others." Then love them for it. ….”

Wal-Mart woes revive minimum wage debate

Yahoo – AFP, Jeremy Tordjman, 19 Oct 2015

Walmart employees stock the shelves at a Walmart store on February 19, 

2015 in Miami, Florida (AFP Photo/Joe Raedle)

Washington (AFP) - Wal-Mart caused a stir when it raised the pay of 500,000 of its workers. But now the US retail giant seems to regret the move after its profit outlook plunged, reviving a minimum wage debate.

The nation's biggest employer blames its recently released lower forecast on a plan it unveiled in February to hike minimum hourly compensation to $10, up from $7.25 at the federal level.

Wal-Mart's move followed mounting criticism by labor unions and others that its low wages have locked workers into poverty and even pressured some of them to seek public assistance to make ends meet.

The decision had a snowball effect, spreading most notably to fast food chain McDonald's at a time when several US states including New York and major US cities -- Los Angeles and Seattle among them -- took similar action, effectively bypassing hostile Republicans in Congress.

But now Wal-Mart's woes could put the brakes on this trend. They have already prompted reactions from the large camp of those opposed to increasing the minimum wage, something that hasn't been done since 2009.

"Wal-Mart's announcement that their plan to increase wages is a contributing factor to their disappointing earnings report confirms the obvious truth that increasing wages has significant impacts, even on the largest of employers," Randy Johnson, an official with the US Chamber of Commerce, the powerful business lobby, told AFP.

The reasoning is that companies could jeopardize their bottom line by boosting paychecks.

"If even Wal-Mart feels the pinch then other employers will certainly have problems," Johnson added.

This argument has also been used to hit back at US fast food workers who have stepped up calls and actions demanding that the minimum wage be increased to $15.

"A rise in the minimum wage to $15 would very definitely mean that the jobs of large numbers of people would be at risk," said Tim Worstall, a fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London.

"Companies would have to become intensive users of well-trained labor ... rather than extensive users of low skill and lowly paid labor," he wrote in a piece published by Forbes magazine.

'Absurd'

Eyeing Wal-Mart, will other big businesses back away from paying their workers better?

That remains to be seen.

"The companies for whom it makes business sense will continue to do it," Michael Strain, of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told AFP.

But "the others might think twice about this."

Strain noted that companies might be torn between wanting to score points with the greater public or win favor with shareholders.

Walmart blames its recently released lower forecast on a plan it unveiled in 

February to hike minimum hourly compensation to $10, up from $7.25 at the

 federal level (AFP Photo/Joe Raedle)

"The corporate responsibility community will say: 'you raised your wages voluntarily, that's great,' but the business community and the shareholders are like 'jeez, this is really not helping our earning statements,'" he said.

Experts are divided.

David Cooper, economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, sought to put the negative impact of Wal-Mart's minimum wage hike into perspective.

"The notion that this pay increase will threaten the profitability of the company is absurd," Cooper told AFP, highlighting the fact that the measure's cost of 1.5 billion dollars represents just 0.3 percent of the giant's turnover.

"This is a drop in a very large bucket for them," he said, pointing to pressure from online competitors and a strong dollar as additional reasons for its lackluster performance.

Cooper and others maintain that the benefits of a minimum wage hike will only become apparent over time.

"Spending this money on the workforce may not please short-term investors but it's good business policy for the long-term health of the company," he told AFP.

Cooper added that, as the labor market improves, it will become harder to attract and retain the best people.

But "when you raise wages, workers will stay on longer," minimizing turnover, which comes at a significant cost, he said.

More Dutch cities may join in ‘basic income’ experiment

DutchNews, August 5, 2015

Other Dutch cities may join Utrecht in experimenting with a ‘basic income’ to replace the current complicated system of taxes, social security benefits and top-up benefits, the Financieele Dagblad says on Wednesday.

In June, Utrecht city council announced plans to launch trials of the new system after the summer holidays together with researchers from Utrecht University. Now Tilburg has similar plans and aims to run a four-year trial, the FD says. 

Groningen, Maastricht, Gouda, Enschede, Nijmegen and Wageningen are also looking at the concept and dozens of other councils have expressed an interest in the idea, the paper says. 

If junior social affairs minister Jetta Klijnsma approves the Utrecht plan, all welfare benefit claimants will be asked if they would like to join in. 

One group will continue under the present system of welfare plus supplementary benefits for housing and health insurance. A second group will get benefits based on a system of incentives and rewards and a third group will have a basic income with no extras. 

In theory, a basic income consists of a flat income to cover living costs which, supporters say, will free up people to work more flexible hours, do volunteer work and study. Additional income is subject to income tax.

The FD says the social affairs ministry states that the new laws covering welfare benefits allow ‘some room’ for experimentation. However, neither Utrecht or Tilburg have yet made a formal request to do so, a spokesman told the paper.

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UN aims to 'end poverty' with 2030 agenda for sustainable development

Cheers as UN irons out roadmap to end poverty

Yahoo – AFP, 3 Aug 2015

Jubilant UN member states put the finishing touches to a hugely ambitious
roadmap aimed at wiping out poverty worldwide by 2030 and taking on climate
change (AFP Photo/Haidar Hamdani)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Jubilant UN member states put the finishing touches to a hugely ambitious roadmap aimed at wiping out poverty worldwide by 2030 and taking on climate change.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded the hard-fought agreement, saying it "encompasses a universal, transformative and integrated agenda that heralds an historic turning point for our world."

After a week of heated negotiations at UN headquarters in New York, experts and diplomats from the 193 member states adopted a draft about 30 pages long entitled "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."

To cheers, Kenyan Ambassador Macharia Kamau called it "really a historic moment." Kenya chaired the negotiations along with Ireland.

World leaders will attend a Sustainable Development Summit at the UN September 25-27 to adopt a sustainable agenda document, firing the starting gun on efforts to improve the lives of one billion people living on less than $1.25 a day, mainly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Negotiators set out 17 new sustainable development goals seeking to end poverty, promote wellbeing and safeguard the environment -- all by 2030.

"This is the People’s Agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind," proclaimed Ban of the multitrillion-dollar initiative.

The UN chief vowed that the September summit, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, "will chart a new era of sustainable development in which poverty will be eradicated, prosperity shared and the core drivers of climate change tackled."

The new 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals builds on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, which helped drag millions out of poverty.

But the new drive will go significantly further, targeting the causes of poverty and the need for development that works for all people.

Funding the massive effort will be key to its success and last month donor nations confirmed they aim to set aside 0.7 percent of gross national income for development aid, after several days of at-times fractious talks between rich nations and developing countries.

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Business lobbying against German minimum wage revealed

Lobbyists from the farming and newspaper sectors worked hard to win exceptions to Germany's minimum wage, it has been revealed. But the employers' representatives don't think it did them much good.

Deutsche Welle, 30 July 2015

Workers in a field (Photo: imago/Ralph Lueger)

Germany is seven months into its new minimum wage, but not everyone is happy. The government has now admitted that lobbyists from a number of different sectors had urged it add exceptions to the new rule that no one in the country should earn less than 8.50 euros ($9.40) an hour.

The information, shown to DW on Thursday, emerged thanks to an official parliamentary request by the German Left party. Particularly persistent were representatives of the farmers' and newspaper publishers' associations, who met government representatives a total of 15 times in the months leading up to the law being passed in parliament.

The pressure seems to have been effective - both the agriculture sectors and the newspaper sectors won delays in implementing the minimum wage. Temporary farm-workers can be paid below minimum wage unto the end of 2016, while newspaper deliverers can be paid less until the end of 2017.

Nahles (right) had to defend the
 minimum wage against serious lobbying

Success or failure?

"The economic lobbyists have made sure that entire sectors have been left behind by the minimum wage," Left party parliamentarian Michael Schlecht said in an emailed statement. "Particularly the lobbyists of the publishers' and the farmers' associations clearly felt a lot more need to speak to the government during the lawmaking process."

"The result is well known," he added. "Hundreds of thousands of people did not benefit from the introduction of the minimum wage at the start of the year."

But the German Farmers' Association (BDV) don't think they gained much advantage. "We were invited to hearings, like every interest group, and we think it's legitimate to describe what happens in practice, in business," BDV spokesman Michael Lohse told DW.

The farmers also argued that the minimum wage will have a real impact on their business when it comes into full effect for temporary workers during the 2017 harvest.

"We analyzed that and communicated it - we will have to lose some production abroad," Lohse said. "In Romania and Bulgaria they have a minimum wage of one or two euros. Go shopping with your eyes open one day - there's half a kilogram of cherries for 7.50 euros from Brandenburg, and you have two kids who like to eat cherries, and you decide if you want cherries for 7.50 euros, or you buy the ones from Bulgaria for 3.50 euros. Then of course the retailer turns round and tells the farmer I can't buy your cherries anymore. Then production goes abroad and it will cost jobs - that's all we said. And that's legitimate."

More bureaucracy

Another complaint against the minimum wage was the amount of bureaucracy involved. At the end of June, Labor Minister Andrea Nahles, who drove the new minimum wage legislation, bowed to pressure and eased the regulations forcing employers in certain sectors to record how many hours their lowest paid workers were working.

Cherries are cheaper in Bulgaria

Up until then, the new minimum wage law stipulated that employers in the construction and gastronomy sectors, and others considered to be particularly susceptible to off-the-books work, had to document the number of hours logged by anyone earning less that 2,958 euros a month. That cap has now been lowered to 2,000 euros a month.

But Lohse was not happy with the whole new system. "If you have 100 or 200 people on a field and one of them has to leave, you have to write that down," he complained. "If they go home to have lunch, you have to document that - if it rains, or there's a storm. There are special conditions during the harvest time and these documentation obligations all take a heavy toll."

The conservative sections of the government coalition - both Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union - have been pressing for corrections to the law.

But Nahles' Social Democratic Party can also point to considerable successes - in May it could announce that 3.7 million people in Germany had received a pay raise as a result of the minimum wage, and that dependence on social benefits had declined. Also, fears that the new law would lead to a sharp rise in unemployment figures have so far proved untrue.

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New York plans $15 minimum wage at fast-food chains

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Why Should We Support the Idea of Universal Basic Income?

New York plans $15 minimum wage at fast-food chains

Yahoo – AFP, 23 July 2015

Low wage workers, many in the fast-food industry, join with supporters in front 

of a McDonald's to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour, on April 15, 

2015 in New York (AFP Photo/Spencer Platt)

New York (AFP) - New York state was poised Wednesday to raise the minimum wage to $15 in the fast-food sector, a key victory in a long-running workers campaign for liveable wages.

A three-person panel appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state's current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour should be increased to $15, a raise of more than 71 percent.

Cuomo had indicated he would follow the panel's recommendation.

"What a great, great day!" Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a news conference with the leaders of the $15 campaign.

Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to labor 

leaders, workers and activists at a rally for

 a $15 minimum hourly wage on July 22, 

2015 in New York (AFP Photo/Spencer

Platt)

The wage increase will be phased in, starting with fast-food chain restaurants operating in New York City. They are due to meet the new minimum wage by 2018, while elsewhere in the state fast-food restaurants will have until 2021 to comply.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but states and municipalities can set their own. Some 29 states and Washington, DC, have minimum wages above the federal minimum.

"We're getting $15 before every other state," said Eric Schneiderman, New York attorney general.

"It's a victory you have all built," he said, thanking the labor leaders and Cuomo. "This is a victory for all men and women who work hard."

Activists have been pushing for several years to get the $15 minimum wage in the fast-food sector, notorious for low pay that workers say does not keep them out of poverty.

Under pressure from unions, McDonald's announced in April a pay hike for 90,000 employees in company-owned restaurants, though that does not affect the majority of its restaurants, which are owned by franchisees.

From July 1 the starting wages for full and part-time workers in its own restaurants were raised by one dollar above the local minimum wage.

The move followed similar wage increases announced by Wal-Mart Stores, Gap and others, all under pressure from labor and social groups over low pay.

Cuomo said that New York state's $15 minimum wage decision would "radiate" across the country.

"If it's right in New York, it's right in California," he said.

In May, Los Angeles, the second biggest US city, passed an increase in its minimum wage from $9 to $15 an hour by 2020. That followed a similar move by Seattle one year ago.

Other states and communities have also passed, or are weighing increases to, statutory minimum pay, after years in which inflation eroded the spending power of US workers.

But only a few have moved toward the $15 target that worker groups are calling for.

According to US labor data, workers in the food preparation and serving-related occupations comprise 22 percent of US employees who make at or below the minimum wage. Workers such as waiters can earn less than the minimum wage if they make up the gap in tips.

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Utrecht city council to begin experiments with a basic income

DutchNews.nl, June 28, 2015

Utrecht city council is to begin experimenting with the idea of a basic income, replacing the current complicated system of taxes, social security benefits and top-up benefits. 

City alderman Victor Everhardt says the aim is to see if the concept of a basic income works in practice. ‘Things can be simpler if we base the system on trust,’ he told website DeStadUtrecht.nl. 

The experiment will start after the summer holidays and is being carried out together with researchers from Utrecht University.

In theory, a basic income consists of a flat income to cover living costs which, supporters say, will free up people to work more flexible hours, do volunteer work and study. Additional income is subject to income tax. 

The Utrecht project will focus on people claiming welfare benefits. One group will continue under the present system of welfare plus supplementary benefits for housing and health insurance. A second group will get benefits based on a system on incentives and rewards and a third group will have a basic income with no extras. 

‘We have asked civil service experts if an experiment using basic incomes is an option and have not had a definitive ‘no,’ Everhardt said. In addition, the trials fit in well with home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk’s decision to allow local authorities to experiment more with welfare benefits, he said.

Crowdfunding

‘What happens if someone gets a monthly amount without rules and controls?,’ Everhardt is quoted as saying in the Independent.’ Will someone sitting passively at home or do people develop themselves and provide a meaningful contribution to our society?’ 

Other cities, such as Nijmegen, Tilburg, Wageningen and Groningen are interested in a similar scheme. 

Earlier this year, a crowdfunding experiment using the concept of a basic income raised enough to allow Groningen campaigner Frans Kerver to live for a year on €1,000 a month. 

The crowdfunding effort is continuing and the second recipient, if enough money is raised, will be decided via a raffle.

A man cycles past a cafe displaying Tour de France items for sale, ahead of 

the upcoming Tour de France cycling race, in downtown Utrecht on June 23, 

2015. (Robin van Lonkhuijsen-AFP/Getty Images

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