Income support claimants in smaller towns more likely to find work

Just over 9 percent of people claiming income support in the Netherlands at the end of 2010 found a job in 2011. This percentage was the highest in smaller municipalities. In municipalities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, income support claimants in Zoetermeer were most successful in finding a job, those in Amsterdam were least successful.

Claimants in municipality with 10 to 50 thousand inhabitants most likely to find work

Nearly 350 thousand people in the Netherlands were claiming income support at the end of 2010. Four in ten income support claimants  lived in a municipality with fewer than one hundred thousand inhabitants. In these municipalities 11 percent of claimants changed from claiming benefit to paid work in 2011. Municipalities with 10 to 50 thousand inhabitants had the highest rate of job-finding income support claimants.

Not all income support claimants have the same chance of finding a job. Some have been receiving the benefit for a long time, or are difficult to place in work. In addition, regional labour markets and the effort put in by the municipality also play a part.

Income support claimants (end of 2010) who found work in 2011, by size of municipality

Zoetermeer best of large municipalities

In municipalities with a population of more than one hundred thousand, 8 percent of inhabitants on income support found a job. The percentage was highest in Zoetermeer: over 14 percent. The outflow from benefit to work was lower than the national average in the four largest cities, at just over 7 percent. The outflow was lowest in Amsterdam at 6 percent. Rotterdam did best of the four large cities, with 8.6 percent.

Top 7 municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitant; highest and lowest percentage of income support claimants (end of 2010) who found work in 2011

Medium-sized municipalities: Hardenberg has highest outflow to work

In the category of municipalities with fifty to one hundred thousand inhabitants, Hardenberg (province of Overijssel) had the highest percentage of claimants finding a job, 18 percent, followed by Roosendaal (North Brabant) and Roermond (Limburg), both with 16 percent. The outflow was smallest in Alkmaar and Nieuwegein, at 7 percent.

Outflow from income support to work

Economic situation has strong effect on finding work

Since the start of the economic crisis, fewer income support claimants have stopped claiming their benefit because they found work. While nearly 15 percent of claimants found a job in 2007, in 2009 this was only 7 percent. From 2010 onwards the outflow to work started to rise again. In 2011, too, there was a slight rise.

Marieke Bosch and Annemieke Redeman