The government’s advisory unit SCP is signalling a change in the country’s socio-cultural weather: dark clouds are gathering over Dutch society, the SCP says in De sociale staat van Nederland 2011 (The social state of the Netherlands 2011), the unit’s bi-annual ‘state of the nation’ report.

The effects of the gathering clouds and the ensuing rain will be studied in the next two years to make up what will probably be a less optimistic version of this year’s report. For the moment however the Netherlands is not doing too badly. Here are some of the main findings.
Quality of life good, education great divider
In spite of the economic downturn, the quality of life in the Netherlands is still very good in terms of housing, health, social participation, leisure activities, mobility and acquisition of durable goods. Pensioners, low income groups and non-Western immigrants in particular have seen an improvement in most of these categories.
Education remains a great divider. There is a 14% score difference between well educated and less well educated people on the SCP scale for quality of life. Not only do the less well educated lose out on jobs, health and housing, they also feel less happy and confident compared to those with a good education. 75% of well educated people spend time doing sports against less than 50% of the less well educated. Less than a third of this group spends time on cultural leisure activities. Of the well educated this is more than half.
Incomes have gone up by an average of 6%. Unemployment was up by 1% in 2010 and although 65% of people are pessimistic about the future of the country as a whole 80% thinks that their own financial future is relatively secure.
Education below par
Basic education is still below par. Too many university and secondary education students lack basic maths and grammar skills. 14% of 15-year olds lack language skills and many fail to acquire the basic starting qualification needed to enter the jobs market.
Non-Western immigrant participation in higher education continues to fall behind but is gradually improving. In 2009, 21% of immigrants was in university or HBO (further vocational training) compared to 32% of their Dutch peers.
Health
The Dutch are living longer but not more healthily, with smoking still a major health risk.
Sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies are more likely among ethnic minority groups and the less well educated. Almost half of the population is overweight and one in ten is obese. The less well educated people are more likely to be obese than the well educated but with an average percentage of 10 the Netherlands have one of the lowest obesity figures in Europe.
As far as mental welfare is concerned the well educated again have the advantage over the less well educated. Besides having more health problems in general, the less well educated are two times more likely to suffer from mental issues.
More non-Western immigrants are buying houses but there is still a 30% difference compared to the number of Dutch home owners. The number of people with negative equity is thought to be around 15%.
Crime
Chances of becoming the victim of a crime is 25% for people older than 15. Most were victims of vandalism (13%), some of violent crime (5.5%). Young people are more likely to fall victim to crime than elderly people.
Domestic violence and discrimination figures are up, perhaps as a result of a greater willingness to report incidents. Annually, 200,000 people are the victims of 112,000 perpetrators of domestic violence. Two thirds are women between 18 and 30. Of the perpetrators 83% is male while 60% is from a non Dutch background.
Social participation and exclusion
Only the Danes top the Dutch when it comes to social contacts and club membership. Although only 300,000 people are members of a political party, political interest is high and one in ten have been politically active albeit from behind the computer: participation in political discussion via the internet has doubled to 21% since 2010.
The number of people who do not have a social network – mostly men, the less well educated, the elderly and the unemployed – has doubled to 4% in the last few years.