Children of welfare households more likely to face unemployment
Young adults who spent their teenage years in a household relying on benefits are far less likely to have a...
A new study reveals that young adults who spent their teenage years in welfare households face lower employment rates and lower earnings compared to those who grew up without such a background. According to figures from the Dutch national statistics office CBS, only 69% of those who lived in a welfare-dependent household were employed by the age of 29, while 89% of those from non-welfare background were.
The gap persists even when considering brief spells of welfare dependency, with 77% of those who received welfare for less than a year working at 29 and 16% still relying on benefits. Education outcomes are similarly poorer, with only 20% of welfare-reared young adults obtaining an HBO or university degree by 29, compared to 50% of others.
The length of welfare dependency showed little impact on these results. Current workers in this group earn 60% of what their non-welfare-reared peers earn per hour, work fewer hours, and are less likely to have permanent contracts; 60% have permanent jobs compared to 71% of others. The research analyzed 186,000 Dutch citizens who turned 18 in 2013 and resided in the Netherlands from ages 12 to 18.
One in ten of this cohort spent at least part of their teenage years in a welfare-dependent household, with 3% experiencing five-year or more welfare dependency.
Written by urgent.news from DutchNews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
