Between June last year and the same month this year, the number of those receiving assistance increased by 12 000 to 472 000. This was evidenced by new figures released by Statistics Netherlands.
More than half of the recipients have a non-western migration background. The number in this group increased by 16 000 while people with Dutch or other western backgrounds were less likely to receive a social security benefit.
According to the OECD data, some 12 percent of foreigners were jobless in the The Netherlands in 2015.
Growth is mainly due to asylum seekers from, among others, Syria and Eritrea who have been granted a residence permit. Those with a residence permit may apply for state benefits.
The Refugee Integration Barometer 2014 shows that 46 percent of refugees aged between 15 and 64 years worked in 2013. This is about the same as the proportion of non-Western immigrants – Moroccans and Turks – with a job.
Young people under the age of 27 and 45 were also assisted.
The percentage of beneficiaries who are eligible to receive benefits, but do not, are not known. This may eventually mean an even higher number of migrants currently living off the state.
Already more than half of migrants do not work at all. From the other half it remains is unclear whether they are working full time or not. It is also known that migrants usually do not earn a high salary, so they pay little tax.