Applying for youth assistance

Are you unemployed and between the ages of 18 and 27? You may be entitled to welfare benefits. Assistance is a benefit for people who - for a while - do not have enough money to live on.
Special conditions apply to young people between the ages of 18 and 27.

Arrange online

Approach

  • First, register as a job seeker at www.werk.nl/werkzoekenden.
  • Then complete the digital notification form. We also ask questions about your personal situation in the form.
  • We invite you to a meeting to explore your options for employment or training.
  • We usually contact you again and schedule an additional interview.

Description

An assistance benefit is a benefit you can apply for from age 18 at the municipality where you live.
Can you go back to school? Are you still entitled to student finance? If so, you will go to school and the right to benefit will automatically cease.

Terms

The main conditions of youth welfare benefits are:

  • You are 18 years of age or older and under 27 years of age.
  • You do not have enough money for living expenses. Do you live with 1 or more persons and share living expenses? Then the income and assets of these persons count.
  • You have spent 4 weeks looking for work or training and you can prove it (e.g., with cover letters).
  • You can show that you have basic knowledge of Dutch(level 1F). This means that you can write and understand short, easy texts.
  • You accept the council's plan of action.
  • You do your best at job interviews and take a course if necessary, for example.
  • You do socially useful work if the municipality asks you to.

Term

The municipality decides within 8 weeks of receiving your application. The municipality may extend this period once.

Objection and appeal

You can object to the decision on your application. Do this within 6 weeks. Do you then disagree with the decision on the objection? Then file an appeal with the court.

More information can be found under: Filing an Objection.

Learn more

What is the language requirement in welfare?

Information for young people with disabilities

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