Summary - A long shortage

Original title: Een lang tekort

The economic recession of recent years has led to a sharp increase in poverty in the Netherlands. There are also indications that a growing number of people spend at least three years living below the poverty line. This group of long-term poor are the focus of this study.

The following are among the questions addressed in this report: How many people are affected? Has the number indeed increased, and if so, is this a permanent increase or merely a temporary phenomenon caused by the crisis? In which categories of the population is long-term poverty concentrated? Are these the traditional groups at risk of poverty – such as benefit recipients – or are there also groups which we would not expect to be affected?

For this study we drew on administrative income data covering the period 1989-2013.