“You have to talk with us, not about us”: Exploring the harms of wrongful accusation on those affected in the case of the Dutch ‘childcare-benefit scandal’

Resumen

This article explores the consequences of the so-called ‘childcare-benefit scandal’ that has taken place in the Netherlands where approximately 26.000 parents have been wrongfully accused of fraud by the Dutch tax-authorities, largely as a result of discriminative algorithms and tight policies and attitudes towards welfare benefits. The parents affected were accused of fraud for more than a decade, going through a profound disempowerment, silencing and humiliation. Our research explored the consequences of the ‘childcare-benefit scandal’ with narrative interviews with wrongfully accused mothers by centring their stories and voices. The main consequences that transpired from the interviews have been organised in five themes: 1) consequences on their wellbeing (mental, emotional, physical and material), 2) consequences on their children’s wellbeing, 3) impact on their relationships with others, 4) impact on their attitudes towards state institutions, and 5) impact on their hopes and needs for the future.