The Netherlands' Caregiving Legislation

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International Caregiving Legislation

The Netherlands

Population: 16 million

Caregiving demographics:

Percentage of carers in the population aged 16 years and older in 1999

Caring for a person with a chronic illness at the time of the enquiry	9%
Caring for someone with a temporary illness over the last 3 years	15%
Terminal care over the last 3 years	6%
Having provided some kind of care over the last 3 years	21%

Relationship between carer and caree

Partner		16%
Other family members living in the same household		10%
Relatives living elsewhere		45%
o Of whom parents of carer	43%
o Children of carer	2%
Other relatives living elsewhere		18%
Others (friends, neighbours, colleagues)		10%

(Source: Social and Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP): Vrij om te helpen (Free to help), The Hague, March 2001)

The Netherlands’ Caregiving Legislation

[To view details of each bill, click the titles below.]

· Revision of Long-Term Care Insurance (AWBZ)

· Paid Employment and Care

There are some acts concerned with paid leave from work that are not exclusively aimed at carers, but which are relevant for carers. They are described in the paper “Developments in the Support of Carers of Older Persons in Finland, England, the Netherlands, 1998-2002” (click the title to download). The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment is responsible for these bills (www.minszw.nl, in Dutch).

Further policy measures (but no legislation) have been announced in the policy paper “Care Nearby.” Further information can be found on page 5 of the paper available for download above.

There are also possibilities for tax rebates. They are described in the Act on Income Tax 2001 (Wet Inkomstenbelasting 2001). For detailed information visit www.belastingdienst.nl (in Dutch).

Description of the tax rebates:

· People with high expenses as a consequence of illness, disability, invalidity, childbirth, adoption, old age or death can get a tax rebate if these expenses exceed 11.2% of the income of the person concerned.

§ The expenses must be incurred in aid of:

o Oneself, one’s partner or children younger than 27

o Seriously handicapped persons older than 27 living in the same household as the taxpayer, if the handicap is such that the handicapped person is entitled to institutional care on the basis of the AWBZ (Long term care insurance).

o Parents, brothers, sisters living in the same household and dependent on the care of the taxpayer.

Unmet needs/future legislative initiatives:There are problems with the assessment for provisions covered by the long-term care insurance. Carers are of the opinion that the assessment should be carer-blind, but in practice assessors often take it for granted that carers will provide quite a bit of care.

For more information contact:

Annelies Scheepens

Policy Officer LOT (Dutch Carers Association)

a.scheepens@mantelzorg-lot.nl

Marja Pijl

Board member LOT, pijl.ma@tref.nl

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International Caregiving Legislation Submission Form(Word file – 22K)

Updated: 8/12/03