Only half the unemployed people on benefit feel any pressure from their local authorities to look for work, according to Social Affairs Minister Henk Kamp and Deputy Minister Paul de Krom.

“Just a small number of welfare recipients feel they have a duty to apply for jobs and accept any kind of work offered. This is unacceptable.”

In a letter they sent to parliament on Monday, they announce stricter regulations intended to put additional pressure on the unemployed to find a job. The two ministers want to introduce standard procedures local councils must follow to ‘activate’ welfare recipients.

Kamp and De Krom say there are big differences in how various local councils implement social security laws. Many council workers have substantial leeway to exercise discretion in individual cases.

“Some staff at social services departments correctly apply the activation principles of welfare, whereas others don’t. An unequivocal approach to activation is called for.”

Deputy Minister De Krom will submit a bill enabling local councils to take steps against people who are not - or insufficiently – committed to finding a job. They would risk losing their benefits should they refuse to accept a job, make no effort to keep it or be unwilling to accept a longer commute.

Minister Kamp announced late last year that people on welfare could lose their benefits if they refused to move house for a job. The junior coalition party, the Christian Democrats, wondered at the time whether the minister was not carrying things too far and whether this might cause serious problems for families.

Mr Kamp said that this type of question showed how often people come up with all kinds of reasons why unemployed people should not be made to accept a job, and that that was “precisely the reason” why some people remain stuck on welfare.

(gsh/imm)

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