Summary of Amsterdam’s involvement in European Cities Against Child Poverty network

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Local government in Amsterdam has been decentralized since 1990; a large proportion of the powers of the former City Council rest with 14 District Councils, however the Council remains the highest authority in the City of Amsterdam. It sets the city's annual budget and has retained responsibility for city-wide affairs.

The day-to-day running of Amsterdam is the task of a 'college' made up of the Mayor and currently six Aldermen. Aldermen are elected by and from the Council. The Mayor and the six Aldermen share their work: each has his or her own portfolio and areas of responsibility. The College prepares the resolutions to be adopted by the Council and implements these resolutions once they have been adopted. The Council delegates many tasks to the College, although the Council still has the final say.

The main council departments which are concerned with the themes of the ECACP network are the Department of Employment and Income and the Department of Social Development. All issues relating to household income are dealt with by the employment and income department. As regards the welfare and (social) participation of children, the Youth section in the Department of Social Development is responsible.

The departments work together on several topics; indeed this cooperation is being intensified and expanded. A Social Alliance made up of the departments of Employment and Income, Social Development, Housing, Care and Welfare; the City’s Public Health Service; Youth Care; and the District City Councils works to tackle child poverty.

Under the new Dutch Social Support Law, local initiatives and local authorities have become more important and there is a strong focus on helping people to take more responsibility for their own well-being and social participation.

Through the ECACP network, the City of Amsterdam wants to exchange best practices and learn about successful strategies on local and regional levels which tackle child poverty and improve the life chances of children, especially those from disadvantaged groups. Amsterdam hopes that by sharing experiences across the network’s participant cities, the network will boost efforts to reduce child poverty at local, national and European levels.

Amsterdam is particularly interested in:

• Tackling educational disadvantage in ways other than through vocational and language training, such as involving parents
• “Generational” poverty
• Assessing the effectiveness of financial support in contrast to or in conjunction with empowerment as a means of tackling disadvantage
• Policies that promote integrated approach or longer-term approaches
• Cooperation with stakeholders including private partners.

Amsterdam’s Child Poverty strategy brings together two main approaches:

1) Financial support which addresses the practical difficulties caused by poverty such as housing, health, clothing, household appliances etc.

2) Personal empowerment, involving the development of children’s and parent’s ability to enhance their economic, cultural and social capital. This will enable people at first to cope with poverty related problems and later to find a way out of poverty.

Financial support initiatives:

National

• Tax measures for households with children (e.g. recent increase of child benefit and child care allowance depending on household income)
• Housing benefit (rent rebate);
• Free education up to 18 years (including free books); and
• Free healthcare for children up to 18 years of age.

Local

• Special benefits for people below poverty line (e.g. support for repairing household appliances or buying new ones);
• Extra benefits for people who have lived below the poverty line for more than three years;
• Discounts on a range of activities (e.g. cinema, swimming pools, museums etc.);
• Financial support for joining sport clubs or taking part in cultural activities; and
• Free computer with three year internet connection when a child enters secondary school for families on minimum income.

Empowerment initiatives:

National

• Pre-school activities supporting the development of young children so that they are not disadvantaged when they start primary school.

Local

• Training and schooling facilities for parents;
• Support with raising children;
• Special training and schooling programmes for lone parents (including free day care for their children);
• Activities before and after school hours in or around the school building to help children develop their social skills and other competencies;
• Wide range of sport activities with a focus on health and social education;
• Youth Safety Net – this takes action in situations where children are threatened in their normal development;
• Support for homeless young people with housing, education and employment (Street corner work);
• Special projects for young people at risk; and
• Special projects for ethnic minorities concerning language training and parental involvement in their children’s education.