The magic word of today's political parties: Social security
In 1844, Thorbecke already knew: without social security, other policies are just 'irony'

What do you do with freedom if you don't have food? The liberal statesman Johan Rudolph Thorbecke said it this way in 1844: “When, with increasing wealth on the one hand, poverty on the other side expands; when the rich man still richer, he who has little, must become even poorer; what is the legislation that offers all Citizenship under a condition that few can achieve, what is that legislation, unless irony?”

The Netherlands has one of the oldest constitutions in the world and has had a stable constitutional system for more than two centuries. The rules of the game are essential for how we shape our destiny together, yet they are little-known, sometimes almost invisible sets for our state, political, legal and even everyday coexistence. Wim Voermans tries to bring these often difficult to understand rules of our old Dutch constitutional system to life by looking at their background, beyond the fog of legal technique and jargon. Indeed, you will better understand these rules — partly contained in the Constitution, partly in unwritten constitutional law — if you know what issues they (tried to) answer.

Maarten van Rossem and host Tom Jessen respond to Prinsjesdag and the 2024 Millions Note. The central word in the Speech to the Throne is “Security of Life”. What does that word mean? Maarten explains it and also refers to the Constitution. The General Political Considerations are also extensively discussed.

Where do the poor in the Netherlands live
Poverty rates per municipality show how many people had an income below the not much but adequate criterion in 2017. Rotterdam had the highest proportion of poor residents (109%), immediately followed by Amsterdam (105%) and The Hague (103%). These high poverty rates are related to the population composition in the three cities. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague also have the largest number of benefit recipients and the largest number of residents with a non-western migration background. These characteristics increase the risk of poverty


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