Poverty, Equal Opportunity and Healthy Neighbourhoods

Groningen is a municipality of city and villages, with significant differences between people and areas. Many residents manage well, but not everyone does. In recent years, poverty has increased and become more visible, especially in parts of the city and in vulnerable neighbourhoods. Families face difficult choices. Children begin school with disadvantages. What is self-evident for one person is not for another.

The Partij vóór het Noorden chooses a municipality that starts from absolute equality. Inequality is therefore unacceptable to us. Everyone must be able to participate, regardless of income, background, postcode, or identity. This requires policy that does not look away, but provides practical help in daily life. Not symbolic politics, but measures that are tangible: at school, in the neighbourhood, and at the kitchen table. We work from the principle that support must be easily accessible and that children must never pay the price for financial stress at home.

Poverty affects more than income. It influences health, safety, and liveability in neighbourhoods. Where problems accumulate, feelings of insecurity increase and people lose oversight more quickly. Growing homelessness is one example, requiring additional attention. We address this with an eye for the people behind the problems, but also with clear boundaries where behaviour harms others. In this way, the municipality remains principled in equal treatment while pursuing solutions that work.