Holland: Churches present Poverty Report 2016, “increase in overall number of requests for assistance”

“The overall number of requests for assistance has risen from 39,481 in 2012 to 49,474 in 2015. Of them, 44,177 were met (compared to 32,569 in 2012)”. These figures are contained in the report “Poverty in the Netherlands 2016”, the 7^th edition of a survey that gives a snapshot of the services and help provided to alleviate poverty by parishes, communities and charities of ten different Christian denominations in the Netherlands. The report, compiled by Knooppunt Kerken en Armoede, a platform connecting Christian institutions dealing with poverty, was presented today in Utrecht by the Bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch Mgr. Gerard de Korte and by René Reuver, Secretary of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. The most widespread need (88.9%) is for non-repayable grants to cover bills and rent; demands for consumer goods come second (71.7%); followed by economic aid in the form of loans (51%). It is “vulnerable social groups” who need assistance: unemployed persons, single-parent families, asylum seekers, people suffering from mental disorders, and the over-65s. Requests by those affected by chronic disease or disability, by those who cannot repay their mortgages and by self-employed persons have also increased compared to 2012”. Overall, the Dutch Churches have spent over €36 million to “alleviate poverty”, that is, 7 million more than in 2013, despite “a decrease in the number of believers in many Churches, in the number of charities, and in the economic resources available”.