Social organisations and political parties have raised the alarm at the new coalition’s plans to scrap a national citizen service scheme aimed at encouraging young people to give back to society. One of the budgetary savings of the new coalition is to scrap a community service and youth talent develoment plan known as MDT or maatschappelijke diensttijd in Dutch. The project , which had a €200 million annual budget pledge from the previous government, is a kind of civilian version of national military service, aiming to involve 12 to 30-year-olds in voluntary work and training.
But scrapping the scheme books the Wilders-led government a five-year “saving” of €860 million. E ducational experts and social funding initiatives have criticised the cost-cutting plan, claiming the MDT saves more money than it costs by providing social services, helping young people grow their skills and eventually enter jobs where manpower is desperately needed. It typically involves 80 hours of volunteer work in a six-month period, with free training and coaching and a chance to try two activities.
Social Finance NL, a non-governmental social financing initiative, is particularly concerned . In a recent analysis , it found that 126,000 young people up to the end of 2023 had begun a volunteer project such as offering refugees language classes or giving kickboxing lessons to vulnerable children. Almost a third of them said the voluntary service had a positive effect on finding a job afterwar.
