Young adults raised on social assistance work less at 29

Young people who grew up in a household on bijstand (social assistance) are less likely to be in work at 29 and more likely to live on a benefit themselves, CBS reports, based on new research. Of those who spent five years or more between the ages of 12 and 18 in such a household, 69% work and about 20% depend mainly on a benefit.

Among 29-year-olds who did not grow up in a household on bijstand, 89% work and 6% depend mainly on a benefit. That makes the share on a benefit more than three times as high for those raised for five years or more on bijstand. The benefits are mostly bijstand, disability and unemployment (WW) payments.

The longer they grew up on bijstand, the less often they work at 29

% working at 29

The longer they grew up on bijstand, the less often they work at 29 (% working at 29). Highest: Never, 89; lowest: 5 years or longer, 69; 5 items. Source: CBS.

View data

Data: The longer they grew up on bijstand, the less often they work at 29

Item	% working at 29
Never	89
Under 1 year	77
1 to 3 years	73
3 to 5 years	70
5 years or longer	69

Education differs too. About 20% of those who grew up partly on bijstand hold a university of applied sciences (hbo) or university (wo) degree, against 50% of those who did not. CBS says the number of years on bijstand makes little difference to this.

Among employees, 71% of those who did not grow up on bijstand have a permanent contract at 29. For those who spent some years in a bijstand household, the figure is around 60%. They also work fewer hours a week and earn less an hour.

The research covers 186,000 people who turned 18 in 2013, lived in the Netherlands from age 12 to 18, and turned 29 in 2024. Of them, 90% grew up in a household that never used bijstand, 3% in a household on bijstand for five years or longer, and 7% in one on bijstand for one to five years.