Towards inclusive service delivery through social investment in the Netherlands: An analysis of five sectors, with particular focus on housing services

The Dutch recessions of 2009, 2012 and 2013 kicked off a series of spending cuts, which were, among others, achieved by reforms of the social security system, as well as the long-term health care system. The Netherlands placed an increasing emphasis on incentives for people to find employment, whilst access to care facilities was made more difficult, in part by making access requirements more stringent or making access more expensive. As a result, both the number of social assistance benefit recipients and the numbers of citizens having difficulties with making ends meet rose.
This RE-InVEST Workpackage 6 country report analyses existing market regulations in the Netherlands reflecting social (dis)investment in relation to human rights and capabilities in five basic service sectors using two approaches. The first –a macro– approach articulates how the recent reforms in four service sector (early childhood education and care, health care, financial services and drinking water services) impacted on the Dutch population. The analyses are mostly based on a literature study, which was kicked off by our RE-InVEST sector experts and completed by the authors of this report.