Additionally, one in three MBO students does not apply for a health care allowance. according to nypod Not applying for a health care benefit is costly. This leaves you with more than 1,000 euros a year, according to director Arjan Vliegenthart’s calculations.

Money is meant as a contribution from the government to maintain the cost of health insurance. For MBO students, health insurance is often one of the biggest expense items. Nybod calculates that students who work part-time lose an average of €180 in tax refunds by not filing a tax return.

ignorance

Unfamiliarity and ignorance in particular will be the problem. For example, a quarter of MBO students who do not have a health care allowance said they don’t know what a health care allowance is. In addition, MBO students at levels 1 and 2 have applied for health care benefits or file a lower tax return than students at levels 3 and 4.

Vliegenthart asks for more help with this. “A lot of adults at all levels ask for help with their tax returns, so it’s no surprise that young people also need help with this.”

Nibud is based on a survey of more than 1,200 MBO students about their finances. According to the Knowledge Institute, the answers show that MBO students can generally do better than they did six years ago, when Nybod conducted the same study.

This is because they often start earning more through their part-time work or paid training. The parental contribution is also higher on average than it was six years ago.

Another sore point, according to Nybod, is student scholarships. Students who are pursuing a vocational training path, and therefore do not work during their studies, may be eligible. They will then receive this contribution as a gift. But nearly four out of ten of these students have not figured out if they can apply for this student scholarship.

According to Nybod, the student financing system should be simplified. Deserving students should automatically receive this money.