The lower house of the Parliament approved a bill to reduce the voting age from 21 to 18. The age of eligibility for election to public bodies was also reduced, from 25 to 21. These provisions came into force after the 1971 general election.
The Netherlands granted Surinam independence (See Dec. 15), leaving the Netherlands Antilles as the only remaining possession of the once vast Dutch Empire.
Constitutional reform: citizens' basic “social rights” were extended and redefined, making it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of political and religious affiliations, sex, and race. Citizens were explicitly entitled to social welfare; foreigners were given voting rights in local elections. The death penalty was abolished. Succession to the throne was to pass to the monarch's eldest child, whether male or female.
Prostitution was legalized, requiring prostitutes to register and to pay income tax and social security contributions. Prostitutes would also qualify for state benefits such as pensions and sick pay.
In response to increased concern over the cost of the social security system, the government adopted a program of spending cuts, including reductions in unemployment and other benefits, a public-sector wage freeze, and increases in direct and indirect taxes.
A parliamentary commission proposed radical reforms of the social security systems, replacing the concept of maximum collectivization of risks with an individual legal guarantee of minimum social protection.
