Several political parties in the Eindhoven city council want the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to do something about the increasing poverty in the city. Due to high energy and grocery prices, fewer and fewer people are making ends meet.
The SP (socialist party) therefore wants the minimum energy allowance scheme to be expanded. People with incomes up to 130 per cent of the social minimum should be able to apply for the supplement. Now, only people whose income is up to 100 per cent of the minimum scheme can claim it.
The SP thinks that is incorrect, the group writes. Moreover, there is still €2,000,000 left from the money the municipality had set aside for the 2022 energy surcharge. That money can be used to expand the scheme.
150 per cent
Ouderen Appèl Hart voor Eindhoven (elderly appeal heart for Eindhoven) goes a lot further and wants the minimum scheme to be extended to 150 per cent of the social minimum. The group points out that such measures have already been introduced in Utrecht and Veenendaal. The call by Ouderen Appèl (elderly appeal) is also supported by the Eindhoven branch of trade union FNV (federation dutch trade union).
Healthy eating
Ouderen Appèl also joined a motion by the PvdA (labour party) to make healthy and varied eating possible for more people in Eindhoven. Volt, GroenLinks (green left party) and D66 (democrats) also joined that motion. The groups point out that people at the bottom of society are more likely to face health problems and have a lower life expectancy.
That target group could live a much healthier life, the groups believe. By eating healthier, people can feel physically fitter and the risk of serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer is reduced.
Food parcels
The municipality should therefore play an important role in making the target group healthier. Therefore, the city should start supporting the food bank with healthy food packages. This is estimated to cost €100,000 per year. From 2024 there should be structurally healthier food at the food bank, the parties believe.
Offering healthy food packages to the food bank should cost about €100,000. That money can come from the subsistence security reserve, which contains some €3,6.000.000. Earlier, the FNV together with Samenwerkingsverband Minima Eindhoven (collaboration social minima Eindhoven) sounded the alarm about the increasing poverty in the city.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
