SCP calls for civil servants to shadow people facing livelihood insecurity
The planning agency warns that policy too often attributes problems to individual choices.
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Civil servants should temporarily shadow people experiencing livelihood insecurity in their daily lives. That is one of the proposals in a new report by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), published on Monday.
The SCP says policymakers regularly view people with debts, mental health problems or unstable housing primarily through the lens of their difficulties. As a result, social causes can remain out of sight and problems are more quickly seen as the consequence of personal choices. The planning agency identifies existing stereotypes and social norms as factors that can influence policy.
One proposed solution is a lived-experience placement. Civil servants should become acquainted with the daily reality of poverty and livelihood insecurity by temporarily shadowing the people for whom they make policy. The report develops the idea as part of a broader approach, but sets no national requirement or fixed duration.
The SCP also proposes community connectors in neighbourhoods where livelihood insecurity is widespread. They could help residents directly, strengthen social networks and bring problems in the living environment to the government’s attention sooner. The planning agency also mentions a programme giving residents more say over forms of participation suited to their situation.
The proposals are based on conversations with people with lived experience, civil society organisations, academics and policymakers. They are therefore not a new measurement of the number of people living in poverty. The report mainly seeks to describe how people experience policy and support, and which changes they believe could help.
The SCP acknowledges that some elements already exist. There are, for example, already neighbourhood civil servants and forms of participation. According to the planning agency, however, such initiatives do not always feed through into structural policy, because political decision-making is often guided more strongly by legal and economic criteria than by effects that only become visible over the longer term.
The publication is advice to government and politicians, not a Cabinet decision. Practical questions remain open: who will organise the placements, how will participants’ privacy be protected and what powers will community connectors receive? Without influence over rules, budgets and implementation, critics say a lived-experience placement could become mainly a learning experience without consequences for policy.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The SCP published a report on livelihood insecurity.
- The report mentions lived-experience placements and community connectors as possible policy options.
- The proposals are based on conversations with people with lived experience and professionals.
- There has not yet been a decision on national implementation.
Left
Arguments Policy should start from people’s lived realities and address structural causes, such as low incomes, inaccessible services and unequal opportunities. Lived experience should have an influence on decisions.
Values Equality, livelihood security and social justice.
Consequences More people-centred policy could restore trust, but would also require additional capacity and public resources.
Centre
Arguments Lived experience is valuable alongside legal, economic and implementation expertise. The institutional question is primarily how this knowledge can be incorporated reliably, voluntarily and structurally.
Values Careful implementation, proportionality and evidence-based policy.
Consequences A combination of placements, community work and evaluation could help, as long as responsibilities and results remain measurable.
Right
Arguments Civil servants should understand people’s problems, but policy must also set boundaries and remain implementable. Personal experiences should not automatically carry more weight than rules that apply to everyone.
Values Responsibility, equality before the law and efficiency.
Consequences Too much emphasis on individual stories could lead to arbitrariness or additional bureaucracy if it is not translated into clear rules.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The proposals and the research design come directly from the new SCP report. The text clearly distinguishes between recommendations, existing initiatives and policy that has not yet been decided.
- confirmed The SCP published the report Bestaansonzekerheid vanuit de beleving van mensen on 12 October 2026. — Mentioned on the SCP’s publication page. source
- confirmed The SCP names a lived-experience placement for civil servants as a policy option. — The proposal appears in the SCP’s official explanatory material. source
- confirmed The SCP also proposes community connectors. — Described by Binnenlands Bestuur on the basis of the SCP report. source
- confirmed There has not yet been a Cabinet decision on implementing the proposals. — The sources consulted describe recommendations, not a decision to implement them. source
Editor's note
The SCP report and the proposed measures are well documented. There has not yet been a decision on implementation, funding or the precise form of lived-experience placements.Sources
- Bestaansonzekerheid vanuit de beleving van mensen — Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau
- SCP: overheid kan mensen met lage bestaanszekerheid beter helpen — Binnenlands Bestuur
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „scp bestaanszekerheid”
- NU.nl — „scp bestaanszekerheid”
- De Telegraaf — „scp bestaanszekerheid”