I've lived hee for 12 years and have formed the opinion that the Dutch are not the most optomisitc people anyway. They seem a bit morose and sullen with a fatalisitc attitude about life. In other words their glass is always half-empty...unless somebody is buying!

Of course things are getting better. This survey was carried out inthe middle of a very wet summer when everyone was fed up and depressed. And since then we've had an election and may get a new government soon.

Until they live a few years in a foreign land, they will understand that NL is one of the best place to live in the world.

The only thing it proves is how oblivious to the facts most people really are.

Err? Arent these stats contradictory?
70% are pessimistic, yet 50% think the economy is wont get any worse?
Well I am glass half-full - you only get one chance in life - make the most of it and enjoy yourself!

8 years I've been here, my purchasing power always got lower, my appartment value goes down in flames a bit more every months, now, I can't wait for the 2% raise of the vat, of the insurrance, the new kinderopvang costs( which start to feel like another mortgage), i never go out anymore, never buy clothes, wonder if I will be able to bring the kids on vacation next year so that they can see something else than a grey sky once a year, VVD got reelected, and the perspectives of a professional evolution are narrowing down with the crisis, appart from that, I'm very optimistic,....

Shirley, I sure like your optimism! thanks, I will borrow some if you do not mind. I think its unfair to single out the Netherlands here, this is trend all over the world at this time. I prefer to focus on simply filling the glass up, and not worrying about the half full or half empty bit. Work is love made visible.

I prefer to be optimistic too. And if you are only worried about your social life, clothes and vacation, you have very right to feel that way too, JulesC.

@ufo: i hope they live in the sunny beautiful California for a while to realize how low standard of living is in here.

@dork: I was born and raised in California and lived from SF to the SoCal. Sure, it's a great place to live if you're rich, but not so nice when property taxes drive you out of the home your grandfather built so that a Dot Com millionaire can tear it down and build a McMansion. Or when budget cuts drive all the good teachers out of your school district.

Dutch weather sucks, but I'll take affordable health care, generous vacation time, robust public transportation, and good schools over sun any day. People don't appreciate how good they have it in Holland.

I think it depends in what weather the survey is made.

Having lived since 2000 in the Netherlands, I tend to agree that there is a tendency to complain BUT i find it an excellent place, especially for bringing up kids. They have 1950s type of freedom that many of us enjoyed.
We spent years in the US and UK. I would be horrified to have to endure family life either of these countries at this time.

@Dork: there are a number of places called California. Do you refer to the almost bankrupt US state where 15% of people are on foodstamps, house prices have fallen off a cliff, school crime is highest in the OECD, 2% of people have no heath insurance and the # of ER departments per 1m people is the lowest in the Western world. Or do you speak of another California?

The Netherlands, despite some major changes over the years is still a pretty good place to live. We can all be negative at times, especially myself when it comes to making comments here.

Even when these extra cutbacks take place & VAT goes up, we are still damn lucky compared to other countries. I sympathize for those with kids, mortgages along with the elderly & disabled, they will notice the pinch the most.:(

Some of us are so spoiled that we tend to complain about the slightest thing that annoys us, I am also guilty, - 'I just don't agree with some of the changes like weed passes & racist attitudes, fair enough right? :P

I can't see how someone could be optimistic. We have criminally high taxes, we have an even more criminally high retirement age, etcetera (keeping it short due to word limit). Also (one specific example), what's the use of affordable health care if you still have to pay 100% of the costs of the healthcare because of the mandatory crmininally high own risk?

The only reason I still live here is because I can't adapt. I somehow just can't learn another language (English is the exception), I'm difficult with what food I like (liking as in: can at least stand it), I can't stand heat and cold (we have them both, but extremes are little), etcetera etcetera.

@stewart: I refer to the state of California which by itself is the world's 5th economy. Has Silicon Valley. Has Berkeley, Stanford, and Cal-tech. Has one of the best mufti-cultural societies in the world.
Best doctors and health insurers. Highest salaries for educated people. Sales tax of just 8.25%. That is the CA I am referring to: where cars and gas is cheap. Clothing is cheap. Public services are cheap.

Yea, I complain about

1) having to wait 5 weeks to get internet
2) paying half of my income to an spoiled over-sized government
4) sales tax of 21% for chinese made crap
5) salary three quarters of what I got in 2000 when I was a student intern in the CA
6) having to pay 3x price of the same new car because of 50% BTW+BPM tax
7) having to ride a 18th century kids toy called bicycle
8) having to go to a lame family doctor when I actually need a specialist
9) when I finally get the specialist on the phone, having to wait 1 week to meet him
...

I fgot to mention

xx) lack of LTE networks, always lagging behind asia (yet alone americas) on latest telcom techs

xx+1) having to pay 100 Euro for a polo shirt which would cost me 40 dollars in the US

...

I think Netherlands is way better place to live than Finland.

Well, I was talking to a homo drug addict neighbor , she thinks NL is the best place on planet earth , except that she complains about some coffee shop pass??

For him, NL sure is the best place.

I live in Portugal now; no traffic jams here, no one has work or can afford to drive. Shops are empty, more are closed up every time I go to town.
On a recent visit back to NL, the roads and shops were full.
What crisis? All my friends had full employment at fabulous wages, but were mysteriously totally pessimistic.

We think about leaving (mostly to be closer to my family), but starting all over again when you're 50+ in a country you haven't lived in in almost a decade with an immigrant husband who has no degree?

Really, it's not as bad here as it is elsewhere...and at least it's the devil you know!

One has to keep in mind (especially if you haven't lived at home in a long time) that the country you left may not be the one you return to...and you're not necessarily the same person...

I have seen how things are in Britain, so I have no complaints about Holland. Britain may have lots of natural beauty, but that doesnt bring home the bacon, does it?

It makes no difference where one settles, there will always be moaners and people who will blame anything but themselves for their own bad decisions.

50 years ago, I settled in Holland. I learnt a new trade, language and customs. Its the best place to be for people who have a positive outlook.

Hi,
Pessimism about the future of the Netherlands rises to record levels. Smile, it could be worse, I smiled and it got worse.

Many people seem to be confused about the concept of pessimism, being pessimistic doesn t mean you're unhappy or unthankfull for what you've got, it means you believe the future won t be as nice as the present,.... Besides, no need to compare with other countries, every country is different, and so is everyone, it s ridiculously subjective to say this place is better than this one, by my standards I would be far better off in spain or in france with half the money I get here,....others might disagree....