Ahead of Dutch elections, food banks highlight the cost-of-living crisis, a major campaign theme

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

VOORBURG, Netherlands (AP) — Thousands of families are lining up for free handouts at food banks across the Netherlands. The queues underscore how poverty is taking root even in lower middle class families and why tackling it has become a major theme in next Wednesday’s parliamentary election. The cost-of-living crisis, a chronic shortage of social and affordable housing and access to affordable healthcare have combined to become known by the catch-all title “security of existence” in election campaigning. It’s a topic all parties are addressing in their election programs. The issue even cuts across traditional political lines with parties on the left and right of center offering similar proposed solutions.