The Prime Minister Mark Rutte-led government has announced its resignation over a family support scandal that has been mounting for months. Rutte and his ministers announced Friday after a meeting of the council of ministers that they will stay on in a caretaker capacity until 17 March, when parliamentary elections are held.

Hundreds of families were put in a dire financial situation when starting in 2012, the Dutch tax authorities treated them as fraudsters withdrawing their childcare support, and in many cases ordering them to repay thousands of euros. The practice was most commonly applied in families where the parents had dual citizenship. The national ombudsman and an inquiry committee of the Dutch parliament concluded that the tax office had violated the rule of law, disregarded children s rights and caused severe financial hardship for several families.

„According to the inquiry, the current third and former Rutte-led governments are responsible for the suffering imposed on innocent families,” the local press writes.

On Tuesday, a group of parents who have been victims of the abuse by tax authorities filed a lawsuit against five current and a former minister, accusing them of gross criminal negligence through a failure of good governance.

The resignation of the entire cabinet was hastened by the stepping down of Labour Party leader Lodewijk Asscher on Thursday, who was the minister of social affairs during the former Rutte governments.

The third Rutte government has been in power since October 2017, in coalition with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the Democrats 66 (D66), and the Christian Union (CU) parties. According to polls, the election next March will see yet another victory of Rutte-led Conservative-Liberal People s Party for Freedom and Democracy.