Higher student debt due to benefits scandal; minister opens helpline

The children of the benefits scandal often face high student debts. Minister Moes will not be cancelling those debts, and is only opening a special helpline. “Disappointing.”

Last year, the ombudspeople of five major cities called on ‘benefits scandal children’ to come forward, children of people who were incorrectly accused of fraud with childcare benefits and had to pay huge fines. Had they borrowed extra money from DUO due to the scandal, in order to help their parents?

More than 1,800 (former) students filled in the questionnaire. It showed that they do indeed owe DUO more money. 18 percent have debts of 50,000 euros or more. On average, only 8 percent of students have debts that high.

Debt cancellation

Roughly half of the respondents said they used the money ‘to support their family’, according to the ombudspeople of Utrecht, Nijmegen, The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Last Thursday, these ombudspeople travelled to The Hague to ask caretaker education minister Gouke Moes to cancel the debts of the children affected by the scandal. These young people need extra help, the ombudspeople believe. They are also twice as likely to drop out of their studies.

Due to the benefits scandal, ‘the government has taken their youth away from them’, said Rotterdam’s children’s ombudsman Stans Goudsmit. “But their future doesn’t look much better either.”

Helpline

However, the ombudspeople have so far been unsuccessful in politics, according to initial comments from Gouke Moes. He believes that these young people ‘can be supported with existing provisions’. All that is being offered is ‘a temporary helpline at DUO, where affected young people can ask questions’.

The ombudspeople expressed dismay at this promise. “A robust compensation scheme for all affected young people is still not on the table”, they concluded. They called it a ‘disappointing response’ from Moes, who received the report on Thursday along with state secretary for Recovery and Benefits, Sandra Palmen.

Rotterdam children’s ombudsman Goudsmit hopes the new coalition will be more attentive to the needs of the children affected by the scandal. The prospective coalition parties D66, VVD and CDA want to introduce several measures to support benefits parents and their children. Whether students and their debts will be included remains unclear.