According to an idea of the French economist Thomas Piketty, GroenLinks comes up with a plan for a “start-up capital” for every 18-year-old, for study or for his own business.
GroenLinks wants young people to receive 10,000 euros from the government on their eighteenth birthday to give their lives a “kickstart”. In the election program, the party comes with a plan for a start-up capital for every 18-year-old. GroenLinks is looking for funding in a higher tax for millionaires.
With a starting capital for everyone, young people in the Netherlands get more equal opportunities for a good start in life, the party states. The 10,000 euros is intended for study, personal development or to start your own business. “Where you were born now determines the opportunities in your life. Despite numerous warnings from economists and knowledge institutes, the inequality of opportunity in the Netherlands is steadily increasing, ”said party leader Jesse Klaver, who will present the full election program on Saturday.
To this end, GroenLinks wants to impose a higher wealth tax, one percent tax on assets of one million euros, and two percent tax on assets of more than two million euros. A “solidarity contribution”, according to the party, which wants to collect the necessary 2.2 billion euros per year.
Final farewell to the loan system
The idea for a start-up capital comes from the French economist Thomas Piketty, who sparked a worldwide debate about the growing inequality in what people own in equity. His proposal for a “legacy for everyone” goes even further than the GroenLinks plan. Piketty advocates the redistribution of wealth in the country so radically that every youngster gets hold of an amount equal to 60 percent of the average wealth. But only when someone has already completed a study for 25 years.
GroenLinks also wants a gesture to be made for young people who are now studying and who have to finance their own studies under the loan system. They too must receive the starting capital of 10,000 euros to be able to pay off their student debt.
With this, GroenLinks is definitively saying goodbye to the loan system, which the party itself helped introduce. GroenLinks has wanted to get rid of the loan system for some time now, after complaints from young people about sky-high student debts.
Also read: Is the loan system really such a big obstacle for students?
Opponents of the loan system say it hinders young people’s opportunities for the future, promotes class systems, and the money is not invested in education as promised. Are these arguments correct?
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