Applying for social assistance

If you have too little money to get by, you may be entitled to social assistance (bijstand). You can apply for social assistance at your municipality or the werk.nl website, an online work platform operated by the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen – UWV (Employee Insurance Agency).

You are entitled to social assistance if you:

are a Dutch citizen or lawfully resident in the Netherlands, and;
are aged 18 or over;
do not have enough income or funds to get by. Your (joint) income must be below the social assistance standard (in Dutch);
cannot claim any other provision or benefit;
are not in prison or in a detention house.

There are also a number of obligations when you receive social assistance (in Dutch).

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of De Wolden

Here is some information from your municipality.

Municipality of De Wolden: Applying for social assistance

Please note: you can only apply for bijstand (social assistance) if you live in the Netherlands and are registered with a municipality.

You can apply for social assistance from the municipality of De Wolden if you meet the following additional conditions:

You live in the municipality of De Wolden
You do not yet receive an Algemene Ouderdomswet – AOW (State Pension).
Do you live with your partner or have a joint household with someone? If so, the income and savings of that person are also taken into account.
You are participating in activities offered to you by the municipality of De Woldento find work.
You must understand, speak, read and write Dutch to a sufficient standard. You are entitled to social welfare assistance even if your Dutch is not good enough. However, the municipality may reduce your welfare benefit if you do not make a substantial effort to learn Dutch.
Are you between 18 and 27 years old? If so, you can also apply for social assistance on the condition that, first, you actively look for work or education for 4 weeks.

Height of the welfare benefit

How much welfare benefit you receive depends on your age and living situation. In some situations it is possible for you to get an advance on the welfare benefit. In this way it is possible for you to bridge a gap between your application and the decision of the municipality.

27 years and older

Through the button "online inschrijven" (aplly online) on the website werk.nl or the municipality website.

Younger then 27

Are you between the ages of 18 en 27 years old and would you like to apply for social assistance? In this case please visit our Werkplein in Hoogeveen (Dekkerplein 1) This is possible from monday to thursday between 09:00 en 12:00. After your application it is mandatory to actively try to find a job or education for the first 4 weeks. At this stage you will not yet receive social assistence. If you havent succeded in finding a job or education in these 4 weeks then it is possible to apply for social assistance. You can do this through visiting Werkplein again.

You will find out within 8 weeks whether you will receive social assistance. You will receive social assistance from the date of the application.