Care and welfare

The New Politics still remembers the applause for healthcare workers. That has since fallen silent, and enormous
budget cuts have been announced by the new government. This means that many more people will soon be dependent on
informal caregivers. Often a forgotten group, because these people are frequently family members. Many do not even know that they
are informal caregivers. After all, it is their duty as a family member. Even more often, they are not registered as informal caregivers with the municipality.

But of course, there is also home care. However, with the new cabinet's plans, we expect that the elderly
will increasingly avoid (home) care because an extra contribution will be required of them. Often money they do not have available. And so we come back to
informal caregivers. It is strange to bring up parking now, but there are plenty of informal caregivers who cannot afford
the parking costs to provide sufficient care.

As mentioned, that is often family. And with parking costs, visiting your parents or
grandparents has become expensive. And then you come to loneliness. And here, too, current politics tries to apply band-aids: we are going to
pair students and the elderly to combat loneliness. But enabling family members to spend a few hours with
their elderly relatives is apparently impossible.

We believe we have organized elderly transport well. However, very often—too often—appointments at the hospital are missed
because the elderly person is still sitting at home waiting for transport to
be taken to their hospital appointment.

Youth care is the largest expenditure for the Municipality of Amsterdam. More than a billion euros goes to it. Meanwhile,
scandals keep emerging, complaints and waiting lists increase, and the same providers are repeatedly
contracted for this care; despite the fact that they underperform and neglect complex cases. Here, too, things must change completely, and it can—
no, must—be better, more efficient, and more humane. A cultural shift is needed, and market forces must be eliminated.