For jobseekers and support workers
Work or welfare?
What do you have left per year on social assistance and when working, by default one minimum wage for 36 hours? Including healthcare allowance, child benefit, child budget and rent allowance, with the difference per month.
This is an estimate. Your municipality decides on social assistance and Dienst Toeslagen on allowances. Allowances received in excess must be repaid. For your own situation, use the official trial calculation for allowances (in Dutch). Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is stored or sent.
Social assistance compared with working, per year
| Per year | Social assistance | One minimum wage |
|---|
* provisional, based on the government’s current plans (Budget Memorandum/2027 Tax Plan). Source: Parliamentary paper 37022, memorandum in response to the report on the 2027 Tax Plan (9 October 2026) (in Dutch).
How we calculate
Social assistance: the net standard for age 21 to state pension age, including 5% holiday allowance, six months at the standard of 1 January 2026 and six months at that of 1 July 2026. For the allowances we use the weighted estimate by the Ministry of Social Affairs (SZW) as assessment income.
Working: the statutory minimum hourly wage (or your own gross monthly wage) × hours × 52 ÷ 12, plus 8% holiday pay. Wage tax is calculated as in the Gross-to-net calculator, so with the general tax credit and the labour tax credit. Healthcare allowance, child budget and rent allowance come from the same calculation core as the Benefits calculator. Child benefit as per the SVB: two quarters at the first-half rate and two at the second-half rate.
What is not included
- Municipal schemes: special assistance, individual income supplement, collective health insurance, child package and other low-income schemes, and the earnings disregard for part-time work alongside social assistance.
- Remission of municipal and water board taxes.
- Commuting costs and a travel allowance, childcare costs and childcare allowance, pension contributions and other deductions from pay.
- The cost-sharing standard, the youth standards (under 21) and the standards from state pension age. We assume age 21 to state pension age, no other adults in the home and no assets.
- For social assistance the assessment income is an estimate by SZW; the municipality’s actual wage tax may differ slightly.
Note: indicative, not advice
This calculation is an estimate based on general statutory rules and 2026 rates and does not constitute tax, legal or payroll advice. This is an estimate. Your municipality decides on social assistance; municipal schemes and tax remission are not included. No rights can be derived from this result.
Something wrong or missing? Let us know
Sources & values used
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Social assistance standard, single (parent) | €1,401.50 (1-1-2026) / €1,419.46 (1-7-2026) net per month incl. holiday allowance | Dutch government |
| Social assistance standard, married/cohabiting | €2,002.13 (1-1-2026) / €2,027.79 (1-7-2026) | Dutch government |
| Assessment income on social assistance | €21,495 (single or single parent) / €27,937 (couple), weighted gross annual amount 2026 | SZW standards letter |
| Child benefit per quarter | 0–5 years €295.07 / €298.40; 6–11 years €358.30 / €362.35; 12–17 years €421.53 / €426.29 (1st / 2nd half of the year) | SVB |
| Minimum wage 21+ | €14.71 per hour (1-1-2026) / €14.99 (1-7-2026); month = hourly wage × hours × 52 ÷ 12 | Dutch government |
- Rijksoverheid – How much is my social assistance benefit? (standards 1 January and 1 July 2026) (in Dutch)
- SZW – Standards letter 1 July 2026 (annex I standards, annex VII taxable income on social assistance) (in Dutch)
- SVB – Child benefit amounts 2026 (in Dutch)
- Government Gazette 2026, 21999 – child benefit from 1 July 2026 (in Dutch)
- Dienst Toeslagen – Healthcare allowance calculation 2026 (in Dutch)
- Dienst Toeslagen – Rent allowance calculation 2026 (in Dutch)
- Dienst Toeslagen – Child budget calculation 2026 (in Dutch)
- Dienst Toeslagen – Trial calculation for allowances (in Dutch)
Checked on 13 October 2026.