UvA professor: “The patchwork welfare state needs to be simplified”
One of the conclusions of a major study conducted by the University of Amsterdam and others is: The patchwork welfare state adds to the stress of insecurity. The welfare state is said to rely too much on people’s ability to find their way through the jungle of counters and government agencies. Professor of Active Citizenship Monique Kremer was involved in the research.
As many as 11 percent of Amsterdam residents are in a vulnerable position and therefore living a precarious existence, researchers from UvA, HvA, VU, and the municipality’s Department of Research & Statistics conclude in a joint study on livelihoods in the Amsterdam metropolitan region. They write that the welfare state, in which the government ensures prosperity and well-being for all citizens, puts additional pressure on people facing subsistence insecurity.
What is the state of citizens’ trust in the government after the benefits affair?
“In our research, we tried to show that the concept of trust is a grab bag. That is why we looked at three dimensions: the belief that the government has your best interests at heart, the government knows and recognizes your interests, and the government can take them into account and has the competencies to provide proper help. What struck us was that the answer to the basic question of “Does the government mean well?” is generally answered affirmatively. Even the group of people who show up in all the statistics as being distrustful still have that basic trust. So you can still try to build on that. Especially by providing better help.”
Since the benefits affair, what has the government done specifically to regain the trust of its citizens?
“Attention to subsistence insecurity has now found a place in the political debate. For example, more is being said about the money people need to participate properly in society. The Social Minimum Committee was created for this purpose. We also hear a lot of talk at ministries about regaining the trust of citizens, especially those in vulnerable positions. People who are subsistence uninsured are incredibly dependent on all kinds of schemes and benefits and therefore come into contact with the government disproportionately often. This same group of people has the greatest distrust. ‘How’ to regain their trust should therefore be high on the agenda. Unfortunately, I have yet to see much of that.”
“The municipality in particular plays an important role for people dealing with subsistence insecurity. For them, the municipality is the face of government and is therefore much more decisive and important when it comes to regaining trust than The Hague. At the municipal level, we see that there is no lack of benevolence. For example, the municipality of Amsterdam organizes dialogues on regaining citizens’ trust. So the importance of the subject is beginning to sink in.”
Your research shows that those surveyed often felt unheard and unsupported by government agencies such as municipal offices, the UWV, or the tax authorities. They feel like they're getting the runaround. Why is that?
“Not only does it feel that way, some people truly have their backs to the wall. People are constantly being referred on the moment they arrive with a request for help. We need to stop that. As soon as you arrive at a counter, the person you find should advocate on your behalf, regardless of whether you have knocked on the right or wrong door. As a person in need of help, ideally, you should not notice anything about all the counters and agencies working together behind the scenes to reach the right arrangement for you. We realize that this is an enormous task, but the welfare state truly has to start providing help.
One of the solutions the report suggests to accomplish this is to create a simpler and more predictable system. What would that look like?
“For starters, we should be much more likely to grant people certain schemes or benefits automatically instead of requiring them to submit all sorts of applications before they qualify. In addition, numerous schemes could be merged. Amsterdam’s Stadspas is a good example. It makes sports and culture much more accessible to people on low incomes. We need more of that.”
“In addition, agency capital must be reduced. By this, we mean the knowledge and skills one needs to be able to navigate through the maze of counters and agencies of the welfare state. When I spoke to someone for this research with a gap in his pension because he came to the Netherlands at age 15, I went to see for myself how to solve that. First of all, you need a DigiD to log in online at MijnOverheid.nl. So you need computer skills. Then I found out that there are two different agencies you could go to, each of which has its own conditions before you can go there. You can perhaps imagine that for someone in a vulnerable position, that is too much. Even for a ‘welfare state connoisseur’ like me, this is complex, let alone for people who deal with it on a daily basis. So this patchwork welfare state really needs to be simplified.”
For a long time, the government put the ball in the citizen’s court when it came to livelihood security. You advocate so-called “co-reliance.” What exactly do you mean by that?
“The government’s approach for many years was based on self-reliance and self-help in dealing with subsistence insecurity. But just raising wages and welfare won't get you there. That's why we advocate co-reliance; we must help each other. The government and the professionals who work at the various agencies and counters must take much more responsibility to ultimately solve a request for help. There are also numerous social initiatives in the city where people help each other to better manage their money, find work, or feel empowered as citizens. We need to start investing in those kinds of initiatives on a long-term basis instead of giving grants every now and then, as we do now.”
Are you confident that things will now change?
“Substantial budgets are needed from The Hague to invest in such a simplification of the welfare state and the restoration of confidence. Subsistence security was a big topic during the last elections to the House of Representatives, but then the focus quickly switched to immigration. Besides, I don't think it has sufficiently sunk in yet what steps need to be taken to regain trust. So is that conviction there? We will see.”
The research report Assurance of Existence Begins with a Reliable Government was presented on January 18th and delivered to the aldermen of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Dordrecht.
