Students can also make use of emergency fund if energy costs become unaffordable
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Photo: Brittany (via Flickr)
Students in Nijmegen can now also make use of the emergency fund ‘Nijmegen through the winter’. The fund was created to help anyone currently in financial trouble due to the high energy costs.
Biology student Sofie Buesink (23) has her heating turned off, despite the freezing temperatures. ‘It’s currently 15 degrees inside’, she says. ‘Only when the temperature drops below 13 degrees do I turn it on. I don’t dare to any sooner, because of the costs.’
Sofie lives together in social housing in Nijmegen. The two hundred euros per month (per person) she used to spent on rent and energy, has now almost doubled because of rising energy costs. ‘I can just about pay my fixed expenses now. If my cat gets sick, the washing machine breaks down or I simply need more study materials, then I have a problem.’
The student has applied for energy allowance from the municipality, but fears she is not entitled to it because she is allowed to loan money from DUO (Office of Education, ed.). A potential loan – whether Sofie makes use of it or not – counts as income by law, which means she will soon be above the income limit (see box). ‘I considered quitting my studies. Then, with the same income, I would qualify for the allowance.’
Financial help
The temporary emergency fund has been created to help students and other Nijmegen residents who, just like Sofie, do not qualify for the current compensation scheme. The fund works differently from other allowances, because it does not consider the income limit, but the personal situation of each applicant.
The assessment for this is done by social organisations such as Bindkracht 10 and Stip Nijmegen. ‘When the financial experts of these organisation indicate that someone needs financial help, we trust their decision and respond accordingly’, says councillor John Brom.
‘We purposefully chose not to implement too many policy rules’, he continues. ‘That way, we can help as many people as quickly as possible. We can, for example, bypass the national policy that says that someone can only receive financial support if they are 21 years or older.’
‘We purposefully chose not to implement too many policy rules’
Allocating financial help goes a lot quicker this way: when someone applies for the emergency fund, they receive the money within six to eight weeks.
Brom encourages students to apply for the emergency fund as well. ‘We try to help students in the best way possible and make it clear that they can get help from the municipality. We have more resources than are currently being used.’ Apart from the emergency fund, Brom advises students to also apply for the energy allowance. ‘It concerns 1300 euros, that is quite a lot of money.’
For now, Sofie is still waiting for the outcome of her application. Otherwise, she hopes that she can make use of the emergency fund to receive compensation for her energy costs. ‘It would be nice that, just like my friends with a fixed energy contract, I can get through the winter while staying warm.’
Energy allowance
In October, the municipality of Nijmegen decided that student should also be able to apply for the energy allowance of 1300 euros (in 2022 and 2023) for people with low incomes. Many students can however not make use of the policy due to national rules associated with the allowance. The loan of 900 euros that Dutch students are entitled to counts as income, according to the national policy. ‘Because of that, a student can not earn over 500 euros with a side job. Because otherwise, on paper, that person will exceed the maximum income (1435 euros, ed.) and their right to an allowances ceases to exist.’, says Mo Quirijnen, chair of student union AKKU in an earlier interview.
Councillor Brom understands the dissatisfaction. ‘I also find it very strange that national policy is constructed in such a way. After all, we try in lots of ways to keep people out of debt.’ That is why he is happy with the emergency fund at a municipal level. ‘Especially when you see how much stress and tension students experience due to being in debt.’
Translated by Jan Scholten.
