Photo Unsplash/Nima Sarram Nibud (the National Institute for Family Finance Information) says students will be 113 euros worse off per month as the effect of the Schoof government’s first Budget memorandum.
While the average Dutch household will have 0.7 per cent more to spend next year, students living away from home will be 6.6 per cent worse off, with 113 euros per month less to spend. For the first time in years, Nibud has calculated the ‘purchasing power projections’ for students, as it regularly does for other households. Students will lose out a lot.
In the 2023-24 academic year, students got the basic grant again, plus a temporary increase of 164 euros per month for students not living at home to compensate for the high inflation. But that inflation measure ended in September. The supplementary grant, the healthcare allowance and the wages for students’ part-time jobs are all projected to increase but that doesn’t outweigh the negative effect of the loss of the inflation allowance.
Scandalous
The National Students’ Union calls it ‘scandalous and unacceptable’ and the the Dutch National Students’ Association warns that there might be a new ‘unlucky generation’ at this rate. ‘Scrap the slow student fine and increase the basic grant so students can concentrate on their studies without worrying about money.’
