THE HAGUE, 24/06/06 - The big cities are giving jobless residents extra money much more often than smaller towns. But the amounts paid out per person are smaller in the cities, social affairs ministry figures on 2005 show.

In towns with at least 250,000 inhabitants, 32 percent of welfare recipients received extra financial support alongside their regular welfare payments in 2005. In towns with 100,000 to 150,000 inhabitants, this additional support was given to 19 percent of welfare recipients. In villages with less than 5,000 inhabitants, the score was just 4 percent.

Special support can be up to 20 percent of the normal monthly welfare payment. Additionally, there can be one-off payments. The extra money is intended for things like buying spectacles or a refrigerator, care of a baby or offsetting energy costs for people with rheumatism.

Among the four big cities (G4), Rotterdam provided special support to the most low-income group people: 42 percent. The proportion was 32 percent in Amsterdam, 31 percent in The Hague and 22 percent in Utrecht.

In the G4, support per recipient averaged 409 euros per year, but in towns with 150,000 to 250,000 residents, 916 euros. The smallest municipalities were in the middle, at 602 euros.

In the big cities, people are also on welfare for longer and many fall back onto the dole. Thus, Amsterdam only managed to halt 5 percent of welfare payments because recipients had found work. Among those who did find work, 30 percent fell back onto welfare within a year.