Start-up grant awarded to develop Digital Helpdesk for the Elderly
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has awarded the Dutch Administrative Law Association (VAR) a start-up grant for one of the projects of the initiative 'Bestuursrecht beter' (better administrative law): a Digital Helpdesk for the Elderly. The grant will enable the VAR to take the first concrete steps in developing a digital helpdesk that provides elderly people who have reached retirement age with relevant legal information.
Bestuursrecht beter
In the wake of the child benefits scandal in the Netherlands, a group of practising lawyers and legal scholars set to work on ideas to actually initiate change in administrative law under the slogan #Bestuursrechtbeter (better administrative law). One such project involves the Digital Helpdesk for the Elderly. This project is led by Fatma Çapkurt (PhD candidate at Leiden University) and Leo Damen (emeritus professor of administrative law at the University of Groningen).
Settling for too little
Reaching retirement age is accompanied by many changes in the lives of older people. Especially at this stage in their lives, major changes occur in income and rights and obligations. For instance, financially vulnerable older people reaching retirement age can apply for various government income schemes. However, the National Ombudsman's report 'Settling for too little', dated 16 June 2022, shows that there is currently a large group of elderly people in needy circumstances who do not make use of such schemes, even though these were set up to support them financially. The Ombudsman notes that there are several reasons for this. In some cases, the elderly are unfamiliar with income schemes; in other cases, however, they simply don’t have the knowledge and skills to apply for them. This multi-pronged problem can be partly overcome by providing financially vulnerable older people – and those who support them such as family, friends and intermediaries – with better information in this area. With the Digital Helpdesk for the Elderly, the VAR is trying to take a first step towards achieving this.