After the Netherlands in 2009 landed in the first of three recessions, the government, which took office in 2012, announced that spending cuts had become inevitable. Government deficits and government debts were increasing and the country no longer complied with the requirements for a stable currency union in Europe. Therefore, the Netherlands has implemented substantial spending cuts which were, among others, achieved by reforms of the social security system. An increased emphasis was placed on incentives to find work, whilst access to care facilities was made more difficult, in part by making access require­ments more stringent. Now that the recessions of 2012 and 2013 are also behind us, society is confronted with an increase in both the number of social assistance benefit recipients and those living at risk of poverty. Increasing numbers of citizens are having difficulties with making ends meet (payment arrears and debts). In Rotterdam, the city heading the municipal poverty list, 17.2% of the households ...