Inability to work differs between provinces
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The number of disablement benefits paid to people who are unable to work, rose by nearly 40 thousand to 992 thousand in the period December 2000 to November 2002. The increase was strongest in the province of Flevoland. As a percentage of the labour force, most disablement benefits were paid in the provinces of Limburg and South Holland.
Most benefits paid in North and South Holland
At the end of November 2002, the largest numbers of benefits were paid to claimants living in North Holland: 171 thousand. South Holland came second with 166 thousand claims. The number of benefits was smallest in the provinces of Zeeland and Flevoland, with 19 and 21 thousand respectively.
Strongest increase in Flevoland
The number of disablement benefits paid to claimants in Flevoland rose by nearly 11 percent in the two years to November 2002. Utrecht showed the second strongest increase: 6 percent. In Friesland the number of benefits rose by only 200 (0.6 percent), the smallest increase. In Groningen and Drenthe, too, the increases were only small.
Disablement and the labour force
The number of disablement benefits can be related to the size of the labour force. For the country as a whole, 13.6 disablement benefits were paid per hundred people in the labour force. In Limburg this was substantially higher at 17.1 benefits per hundred, while in Drenthe the number was 15.7. In South Holland disablement benefits were lowest: 10.6 benefits per hundred people in the labour force.
More and more women unable to work
The increase in the number of disablement benefits was mainly accounted for by the increase in the number of women claiming this benefit. At the end of November 2000, 42 percent of the benefits were paid to women. Two years later this was 44 percent. Disablement increased among women aged 35 years and older in particular.
Harrie Hartman