Parents lost children due to the benefits scandal, and that was preventable
Parents lost children due to the benefits scandal, and that was preventable
By Priscilla Slomp
Mar 27, 2025 at 11:00 Update: 5 days ago
The benefits scandal has played a major role in the eviction of children from affected families. It caused or worsened the problems. In addition, many of the removals could have been prevented, an independent committee concludes in a tough report.
Between 2005 and 2019, the tax authorities wrongly identified tens of thousands of parents as fraudsters. As a result, their childcare allowance was stopped and recovered.
In many families, this has caused a chain reaction of debt, stress, and conflict. In addition, several thousand cases led to the removal of one or more children.
An independent committee has investigated the connection with the benefits scandal on behalf of the cabinet. The committee will present the report on Thursday Legacy of injustice; the lasting impact of the benefits scandal on children's lives.
Out previous research by statistics agency CBS commissioned by the Justice and Security Inspectorate, it turned out that there no proof was that the affected families were more likely to come into contact with youth protection as a result of the benefits scandal. The families did have certain characteristics, such as a low income, that played a role.
The conclusions of the new, independent study contradict this.
The image that families already had a lot of problems is wrong
Moreover, the view that there were already many problems in affected families is wrong, says the committee. “There were many families who had a quiet life before the benefits affair or who could have kept their problems manageable.”
For families where there were already serious problems - such as addiction problems or domestic violence - having to pay back huge amounts of money has caused “extra suffering”. It has also “worsened” their situation.
Whether relocation would have been appropriate even if the parents were not wrongly identified as fraudsters is “difficult to determine afterwards”, writes the committee. But “you could say that because of the recoveries, the families no longer had a chance to solve their existing problems”.
Removals could have been prevented
The committee also states that many relocations would not have had to take place if youth care had functioned better. Youth care workers told the researchers that “they sometimes feel insufficiently equipped to effectively identify financial problems and discuss them”.
Care workers did not identify what “was really going on in the families about the accumulation of problems such as debt, poverty, stress and feelings of guilt towards the children,” the researchers conclude.
The committee emphasises that years ago, when the decisions on relocations were made, much less was known about the causes of the problems in families. As a result, it was “sometimes also difficult” for emergency workers to see everything.
But, according to the committee, if they had made analyses with children and parents, they would have had a better idea of what was going on.
The committee's working method
Over the past two years, the independent Committee on Allowances and Removals (CTU) has been investigating under the leadership of chairman Mariëtte Hamer. The committee held formal and informal discussions with dozens of children and parents. She also consulted around 25 experts and analyzed files.
There is a fear that the government can take your life away
The consequences for children who are displaced from home are still significant today. They have mental problems, have not been able to complete their education or develop their talent. The relationship between the children and parents or between brothers and sisters is also often “serious and sometimes perhaps irreparably damaged”.
In addition, a number of children have come into contact with crime. These are older children who were aware of the financial problems at home and felt responsible to help. The committee cites a poignant example of a child who started begging because the “parents had no money”. In fact, begging was one of the arguments for moving the child out of the house.
Many consequences “still play a role every day and are expected to be permanent”. The committee is “most shocked” by this observation, she writes in the report.
In addition, children are very afraid of the government and authorities. During the committee's discussions, many parents and children said that they “feel like they can take your life away”.
The committee therefore believes that these children should be independently recognized as victims. Then there must be financial support, legal assistance and practical help. According to the committee, this recovery should be generous so that the children can regain control of their own lives.
The cabinet will respond to the committee's recommendations in June.
Unclear how many children are involved
It is still unclear how many children from affected families were removed from their homes. The CBS estimates that there are more than 2,000 relocations. The figures from the Ministry of Justice and Security show that there are approximately 3,500 children. But there are comments about both numbers. For example, voluntary relocations are not included. The independent committee aimed to clarify this picture. But she writes in her report that she needed additional information from the CBS to do so. The statistics office did not provide this data. The committee therefore “suspects that the number of displacements may be much higher than is currently known”.
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