With a pandemic ongoing, the year 2020 reshaped the lives of young people in the Netherlands. In secondary education, relatively more students were promoted and almost all final examination students graduated. Fewer young people were at work; fewer girls between the ages of 12 and 18 used alcohol on occasion, and there was less excessive drinking among young men. The number of young people receiving youth care declined; on the other hand, the number of reported child abuse cases went up. Furthermore, compared to the previous year, in 2020 a smaller share of young people reported they were happy and satisfied with life. These are some of the results Statistics Netherlands (CBS) describes in the Annual Report of the National Youth Monitor 2021, published today.
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Young people aged 15 to 17 years in the Netherlands say they have little interest in politics. Once they are entitled to vote when they turn 18, they do start to find politics more interesting. At the same time, young people place a great deal of faith in politicians, more so than the older generations.
Read publicationBetween 2010 and 2014, over 14 percent of young Dutch between the ages of 12 and 20 were smoking. This percentage is particularly high in the north of the Netherlands. The share of young people smoking is highest in the province of Drenthe (19 percent), followed by the province of Groningen and the northern Netherlands region, each with 18 percent. The lowest share of smokers aged 12 to 20 is found in the middle region of the country. The municipal health care regions of Amsterdam, Utrecht and the Gooi- en Vecht area report a percentage share of 11 percent young smokers.
Read publicationSlightly fewer than half of all people aged between 12 and 25 responded in 2009 that they had a religious denomination. This share has fallen by 6 percent points since 1997. Church attendance is low among young people. About one in seven goes to church or to a religious gathering at least once a month.
Read publicationRelative to other European countries, many young people in the Netherlands attend some form of education. The number of young people leaving school without a basic qualification is also below the European Union (EU) average.
Read publicationCompared with a few years ago, the situation in which young people with a non-western foreign background in the Netherlands find themselves has improved in a number of areas. They are better educated and more of them have jobs. In spite of this, they still have some catching up to do with respect to native Dutch young people.
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