KRALENDIJK – Commissioner Nina den Heyer is pleased with the decision of Minister for Poverty Policy Carola Schouten to double the child benefit for parents with care-intensive children in the Caribbean Netherlands.

“I have been pushing for this in The Hague for years, even in the time of State Secretary Tamara van Ark. It is inexplicable that parents of a care-intensive child in the European Netherlands do receive a higher child benefit, while those on the BES islands do not, while the costs are much higher here and the facilities less,” said deputy Den Heyer.

“I am sorry that it took so long. Maybe I’m a little impatient, but I was hoping it could have been implemented sooner than July 2023, because the parents we’re talking about are really struggling. Most importantly, the decision has been formally taken and an implementation date has now also been stated. That is good news for the concerned parents and carers.”

Accelerate

Deputy Den Heyer hopes that the arrival of a minister for poverty policy will also accelerate other measures to combat poverty. “I will have a meeting with her soon. I will certainly thank her, but also make it clear that quite a lot still needs to be done to eliminate backlogs in the field of social services.”