Budget Day: Students’ purchasing power barely changes

Students will see their purchasing power increase by barely half a per cent next year, according to the Nibud. They will earn slightly more from their part-time jobs, but will also have to spend more on healthcare costs, for example.

Every year on Budget Day, the independent information institute Nibud calculates so-called ‘purchasing power projections’. Based on the government’s plans, it examines how the finances of different types of households will change.

Seven euros

The figures show that the purchasing power of students at universities of applied sciences and research universities who live in rented rooms will rise by 0.4 per cent. On average, they will have seven euros more left at the end of the month.

For those living in self-contained accommodation, such as a studio flat, purchasing power will rise by 0.5 per cent. They will receive slightly more in housing benefit than last year. Students renting a room are not entitled to housing benefit.

According to the Nibud’s forecasts, students will earn slightly more from their part-time jobs or work placements. They will also receive slightly more in basic grants and healthcare allowance. At the same time, they will spend more on tuition fees, healthcare and other expenses. Overall, therefore, there will be relatively little change in their finances.

Worse off

For the first time since the energy crisis in 2022, most people in the Netherlands will actually be slightly worse off. Average purchasing power will fall by 0.1 per cent. This is partly due to tax increases the government wants to introduce. Otherwise, many people would actually be better off: wages are expected to rise faster than prices.

Nibud director Mattias Gijsbertsen points out that the government has postponed certain plans: “That blow may therefore come later.”

Basic grant to rise by 50 euros

The coalition wants to increase the excess on healthcare costs, for example. Students would then have to pay 60 euros more. But that will not happen in the coming year: the government has decided to postpone the plan until 2028.

At the same time, the government wants to increase the basic grant for students living away from home by fifty euros a month. But this will not happen until the 2028/2029 academic year, education minister Letschert said in April.

Affordable groceries

The Dutch Student Union LSVb is unhappy with the government’s approach and wants an end to ‘the yo-yoing of social security’, the organisation said in a press release. Chair Evy Kras said: “Young people are being encouraged to go to war while social provisions, from affordable groceries to housing, have completely collapsed.”

The Dutch National Student Association ISO is pleased with the increase in the basic grant, but considers it ‘insufficient to fully relieve the financial pressure on students’, chair Allis Richardson said.