Still no political solution in sight for “unlucky generation”
The House of Representatives cannot agree on additional money for the “unlucky generation”, the students who didn’t receive a basic grant. The New Social Contract is withdrawing the proposal for a (lower) allowance again and a more generous proposal from the D66 has not yet been voted on either.
Last week, the New Social Contract (NSC) suggested compensating the unlucky generation with about one and a half billion euros. That was less than promised just before the election, but the motion nevertheless seemed promising. Together with the three other coalition parties (the PVV, VVD, and BBB), the NSC has a majority in the House of Representatives.
Withdrawn
But there is apparently still a lack of support. The NSC once again withdrew its proposal. So did the D66, with a motion to allocate much more money for the unlucky generation. That proposal also seemed to have little chance. With that, the House of Representatives is back to square one.
The unlucky generation will receive an allowance of €1,436 from the government next year in any case if they have studied for four years under the loan system. But the NSC wanted a one-time increase in that amount.
The D66 wanted to provide even more money and was supported by GroenLinks-PvdA, Volt, ChristenUnie, and Denk. After all, that money had already been promised to students, including by Pieter Omtzigt’s party, which had proposed just before the elections to eliminate a tax break for expats and use the proceeds to reduce the interest rate for the unlucky generation.
Interest on student loans
The “unlucky generation” consists of students who missed out on the basic scholarship. Their bad luck stems from the fact that the scholarship was reinstated shortly after they began studying. Also, the interest rate on student loans is rising. Politicians wanted to dampen that higher interest rate.
But is lowering interest rates the right thing to do? Some students borrowed heavily while others may have done extra work to avoid high debt. Don’t they deserve compensation as well? Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf sent the House of Representatives three scenarios last December to try to get the money to students.
The scaling back of expat regulations has now come under fire. Large companies have criticized this and it may be partially reversed. This could explain why the House of Representatives has not yet managed to decide on how to compensate the unlucky generation, although the parties are not saying so out loud.
Complicated
“If we have learned anything about damage recovery, concessions, and compensation in The Hague, it is that it is complicated and must be done carefully,” commented NSC MP Rosanne Hertzberger.
