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
Here is some information from your municipality.
Apply for social assistance
Are you unemployed of do you have too little income to make ends meet? Then you can apply for bijstand (social assistance).
Please note: you can only apply for social assistance if you live in the Netherlands and are registered with a municipality.
You can apply for social assistance if these additional conditions apply to you:
- You are registered with the municipality of Gooise Meren
- You are 18 years of age or older
- You must control the Dutch language sufficiently. Since January 1st 2016, the Language Requirement Act applies to this
- You do not have enough income or property of your own to live in
- Do you live together? The income and personal possessions of your partner and children living at home will be taken into account
- You cannot apply for another benefit
- You are not in prison or a detention centre
- You do your best to find work. For example: applying for a job, taking a course, gaining work experience or following an integration programme
- Are you younger than 27 years old? If so, we will process your application after 4 weeks. During these 4 weeks, you will first actively look for training or work yourself
- Are you 27 years old or older? Then we will process your application immediately. You must be able to show that you have actively looked for a job
For more information on entitlement to assistance, your obligations and the conditions, please visit the Central Government.
If you have an appointment to apply for benefits, you need to bring a few things:
- Your ID card or passport (no driving licence)
- Bank statements for the past 3 months from all your accounts and savings accounts. Also the bank statements of your minor children
- Information about your assets (savings, shares, house, car, etc.)
- Information about any debts
- Rental contract
- Up-to-date resume
- Current letters of application
We may ask you to bring additional documents
- Log in to werk.nl with your DigiD
- Register as a jobseeker with the UWV and apply for social assistance. Your application will automatically go to the municipality
- After your application we will contact you within 2 working days
Within 8 weeks of us processing your application, you will hear whether you will receive benefits
Questions about this topic?
Contact the Municipality of Gooise Meren