Abstract. Let X be a complex projective manifold, D⊂X a normal crossing divisor and U=X∖D the complement. It is well known that Hk(U) has a mixed Hodge structure with weights ≥k and that the lowest weight part comes from the restriction Hk(X)→Hk(U). This result can be generalized for coefficient systems underlying a variation of Hodge structure. In the talk I explain how mixed Hodge modules make the proof very easy. This reports on research done jointly with Morihiko Saito.