According to alderman for Work and Income Linda Voortman (GroenLinks), the more flexible social assistance regime prevents young people from getting themselves further into debt and losing confidence in the government. “We also see that the negative effects that were expected have not materialized,” says Voortman. “The idea was that letting go of the waiting time would have a pull effect and young people would apply for assistance en masse when they actually don’t need it, but we don’t have that impression.”