The benefits affair creates a traumatized generation

More help is necessary for all children of allowance parents.

Wyzer

April 09, 2025

It was suspected, feared and confirmed by the Hamer Commission report at the end of March: the benefits affair played a major role in the eviction of more than 3,500 children. The Committee of Inquiry's firm conclusion is that a large part of the removals would have been preventable if the benefits affair had not occurred. “The actual low point in the benefits affair,” said allegiance the removals in an editorial commentary. Yet another low point is perhaps more appropriate, because the suffering among victims takes unprecedented forms. The way up is still barely started for many parents and children.

The fact that this conclusion from the Hamer report receives a lot of attention is right. Retirement is the ultimate remedy and, in addition to the 3,500 children who are separated from their parents, also shows the same number of destroyed families. If you read on, you will see that the research is also about the impact that the benefits affair had on the children and families concerned. The Hamer Committee sees “long-term and sometimes permanent mental problems” and recommends recognizing displaced children as an independent group of victims. In other words: to develop appropriate policies so that these children have a fair chance of recovery. If it is decided to ignore this advice, politics will create a major demand for care for future generations.

Broad support

As a case director for the benefits affair, I have been assisting affected residents of a large municipality in North Holland since the beginning of January. Together with a team of colleagues, we support both parents and children. We carry out the broad support out, part of the Recovery Operation Surcharges and invested in municipal organizations. We offer help with questions in five areas: finances, work/education, housing, care and family. The support is aimed at making a fresh start and emotional recovery. In daily practice, the requests for help from victims often prove to be very complex. A request for help in one habitat often means a request for help in several or all habitats; problems are almost always multi-problems. Residents who report to us regularly have a permanent need for care. In addition, the benefits affair is never the only cause, but years of financial stress have caused or worsened countless psychological and physical complaints. In short, reading the Hamer Commission report evokes recognition. My colleagues and I encounter the long-term and sometimes permanent mental problems that the report reports about every day. With affected parents and young people - even if they have not been removed from home in the past.

More help to prevent worse

The call to develop appropriate policies for the more than 3,500 children who were removed from home at the time of the benefits affair is therefore desperately needed, but not nearly enough. In total, there are more than 107,000 child victims in the Netherlands, a number that is still increasing every week. A large part of them are still confronted with the consequences of the benefits affair on a daily basis. They carry unprocessed trauma, have psychological complaints or get stuck in a grieving process: symptoms that also appear in the Hamer report. To do something about this, more support is needed for the entire group of child victims, on top of the help that municipalities can currently offer. And not just for the children who were removed from home during the allowance affair. In addition, rapid access to specialized assistance, aimed at recovery and their further development, is particularly important. If there is no extra support, a traumatized generation will grow up. An age group that will never process the benefits affair will in turn pass on the consequences — an unprecedented injustice.

Thymen van den Born

Junior Social Domain Advisor

As a junior advisor, Tijmen supports municipalities in achieving their goals. He is currently working on the Recovery Operation Allowance Affair. He stands for a society where all residents receive the care they need.