The Netherlands is known as a country where income is distributed fairly evenly. It is true, but the powers are not. The richest 1 percent owns a third of all private wealth, about 1,600 billion euros.
De Volkskrant writes this on the basis of an article in the economist magazine ESB by four scientists, including director Coen Teulings of the Central Planning Board and Utrecht professor Bas van Bavel.
Earlier, wealth inequality was estimated to be lower, but new figures from the Ministry of Finance make the gap between rich and poor a lot wider. The assets consist of bank and savings accounts, shares and real estate, minus all debts. A thousand billion in pension capital has not even been included, because this is not ‘free capital’.
The elderly and homeowners
The wealth in the Netherlands is mainly with the elderly and home owners, because homes have become so much more valuable. A large gap has emerged with the bottom half of 7.7 million households, which have little wealth or only debt.
The new figures show that the richest percent in the Netherlands has eight to eleven percent more than expected. The richest tenth percent calculated one and a half times more than hitherto. The difference in the calculations mainly arises from ‘shifting between tax boxes’ and the transfer of money to tax havens. The scientists find the difference ‘startling, given the social importance’.
Bron(nen): De Volkskrant
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