Samenvatting

Poverty in the Netherlands seems to be a tackled problem, thanks to the socialsupport-system called “bijstand”. However, the amount of people in risk of living in poverty according to the European Union is alarming, with 2,7 million people. And poverty does not seem to be a problem of being poor, but a problem of not keeping up in the society. Not being able to receive help from the government, this group leans on local foundations and initiatives. With a higher demand than the available supply these local initiatives need to search for new ways of supporting their target group. Therefore, this report is written to research the possibilities for local initiators to receive funding from the European Social Fund. To find out how, it is important to know more about how the European Social Fund´s objectives, the practical side is reviewed and researched which actions local initiatives could take.