Studenten tussen ouders en overheid: Het tot stand komen van de wet op de studiefinanciering

Samenvatting

Students between parents and the state: the origins of the Law on student's allowances. In 1986 a new law was introduced that gave all students, irrespective of their parent's income, a state allowance to cover part of their costs of living. This law can be seen as an example of changing responsibilities between parents and the state for the care of children. This article describes the origins of this law and points out the two main principles which were involved in the discussion on this topic. On the one hand state allowances for students aimed at recruiting more students from lower income groups, so as to promote greater equality between classes. On the other hand state allowances were asked for to reduce the financial dependence of students on their parents. The goal of material independence for all grown-up children had arisen in the sixties, as an expression of the growing power of the young. The principles of 'social justice' and 'independence from parents' were, given the government's financial policy, incompatible, and the 1986 law was a compromise which combined state allowances for all with dependency on parent's financial support.