Inflation rose to its highest level in forty years in February, but the war in Ukraine has pushed prices even further. Inflation is now at 6.4 percent. For many Amsterdammers who were not already well off, the high prices are a cause for concern. “It’s just sad.”
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The high prices cause stress at Najib Zentari from Noord. Because he had a brain haemorrhage, he was declared unfit for work and he and his family live on a WIA benefit. “I’m actually getting a bit stressed now, because you see that you can’t do anything.”
His benefit is 1,700 euros per month. He also receives 430 euros in allowances. Together with AT5 he calculated how much he will have left over this month, when all fixed costs have been paid: 46 euros. So they are still able to survive, but Zentari is afraid that this will no longer be the case in the future. “You keep thinking positive and explaining it to your kids, but when you’re alone you sometimes play the movie. It’s really sad. Everything is expensive and will get even more expensive.”
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Compensation
Zentari is far from the only one who threatens to get into trouble. Nibud raised the alarm about this earlier this week. “We see that this inflation demands a lot from households. It is precisely products that you cannot avoid that have become more expensive, such as groceries and heating,” says director Arjen Vliegenthart. “This makes it so difficult for millions of households. That is why we are calling on the government and municipalities to speed up with the promised 200 euros energy compensation. And we are calling on households with a low income and a high energy bill to report to municipalities.”
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