How’s Life in the Netherlands?

How’s Life in the Netherlands?

The Netherland’s current well-being, 2018 or latest available year
CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT INCOME AND
WEALTH
Hav ing House-
no say in hold House-
Voter
income hold S80/S20
turnout gov ernment* w ealth income
SOCIAL Lack of
share ratio*
CONNECTIONS social HOUSING
support* Housing
Social
inter- affordability
actions Ov er-
crow ding
WORK-LIFE Gender rate*
BALANCE gap in
hours
Employ -
w orked* ment rate
Time off WORK AND
Gender
w age gap* JOB QUALITY
Gender
gap in
feeling Long hours
safe in paid
SAFETY w ork*
Homicides*
Life
Negativ e ex pectancy
affect Gap in life
balance* ex pectancy by
SUBJECTIVE Life
satisfaction Student education HEALTH
WELL-BEING Ex posure to skills in (men)*
Access Students
outdoor air w ith science
to green
pollution*
space low skills*
AVERAGE KNOWLEDGE
INEQUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SKILLS
QUALITY
Note: This chart shows the Netherlands’ relative strengths and weaknesses in well-being compared to other OECD countries. Longer bars
always indicate better outcomes (i.e. higher wellbeing), whereas shorter bars always indicate worse outcomes (lower well-being) – including for
negative indicators, marked with an *, which have been reverse-scored. Inequalities (gaps between top and bottom, differences between groups,
people falling under a deprivation threshold) are shaded with stripes, and missing data in white.

The Netherlands’ resources for future well-being, 2018 or latest available year

Natural Capital Economic Capital Human Capital Social Capital

Educational
Greenhouse gas
Produced fixed assets attainment of young Trust in others
emissions per capita
adults ...
Financial net worth of Trust in
Material footprint Premature mortality
government government

Red List Index of Labour Gender parity in

Household debt
threatened species underutilisation rate politics

Note: ❶=top-performing OECD tier, ❷=middle-performing OECD tier, ❸=bottom-performing OECD tier. ➚ indicates consistent
improvement; ↔ indicates no clear or consistent trend; ➘ indicates consistent deterioration, and “…” indicates insufficient time series to
determine trends since 2010. For methodological details, see the Reader’s Guide of How’s Life? 2020.

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

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For more information

Access the complete publication, including information about the methods used to determine trends at:
https://doi.org/10.1787/9870c393-en.
Find the data used in this country profile at: http://oecd.org/statistics/Better-Life-Initiative-2020-country-
notes-data.xlsx.

Deprivations in the Netherlands

Deprivations in selected indicators of current well-being, 2018 or latest available year

NETHERLANDS

8% 28%
of the population live in relative would be at risk of falling into poverty if they
income poverty had to forgo 3 months of their income

15% 3%
of poor households spend more than of the population report low
40% of their income on housing costs
life satisfaction

7% 3%
are not satisfied with how they
say they have no friends or family spend their time
to turn to in times of need

Source: OECD (2020), How’s Life? 2020: Measuring Well-Being

Note: Relative income poverty refers to the share of people with household disposable income below 50% of the national median; financial
insecurity refers to the share of individuals who are not income poor, but whose liquid financial assets are insufficient to support them at the
level of the national relative income poverty line for at least three months; housing cost overburden refers to the share of households in the
bottom 40% of the income distribution spending more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs; and low satisfaction with life and
with time use refer to the share of the population rating their satisfaction as 4 or lower (on a 0-10 scale).

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

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Inequalities between men and women in the Netherlands

Gender ratios (distance from parity) for selected indicators of current well-being, 2018 or latest available year

Feeling safe 0.77

Earnings 0.86

Employment rate 0.87

Long-term
unemployment rate
0.90

Perceived health 0.93

Adult skills (numeracy) 0.94

Social support 0.99

Life satisfaction 1.00

Having a say in
government
1.01
Hours worked
(paid and unpaid)
1.01

Student skills (science) 1.02

Time off 1.02

Satisfaction with
personal relationships
1.02

Life expectancy 1.04

Social interactions 1.12

Job strain 1.27

Homicide victims // 2.00

Deaths from suicide,
alcohol, drugs
// 2.42
Long working hours
(in paid work)
// 9.18

Men doing better OECD average Women doing better

Note: Grey bubbles denote no clear difference between men and women, defined as gender ratios within 0.03 points distance to parity.

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

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Inequalities between age groups in the Netherlands

Age ratios (distance from parity) for selected indicators of current well-being, 2018 or latest available year
A. Younger and middle-aged people

Job strain // 0.54

Earnings // 0.61
Employment rate 0.76
Having a say in
government
0.93
Adult skills (numeracy) 0.98
Feeling safe 1.00
Life satisfaction 1.00
Social support 1.02
Time off 1.03
Satisfaction with time
use
1.04
Satisfaction with
personal relationships
1.04
Social interactions 1.13
Long-term
unemployment rate
1.19
Long working hours
(in paid work)
1.35

Middle-aged people doing better OECD average Younger people doing better

B. Younger and older people

Earnings // 0.57
Job strain 0.85
Employment rate 0.94
Satisfaction with time
use
0.98
Life satisfaction 0.99
Satisfaction with
personal relationships
1.02
Time off 1.04
Having a say in
government
1.05
Adult skills (numeracy) 1.06
Social support 1.10
Social interactions 1.13
Feeling safe 1.14
Long working hours
(in paid work)
// 1.45
Long-term
unemployment rate
// 3.46

Older people doing better OECD average Younger people doing better

Note: Age ranges differ according to each indicator and are only broadly comparable. They generally refer to 15-24/29 years for young people,
25/30 to 45/50 years for the middle-aged and 50 years and over for older people. See How’s Life? 2020 for further details. Grey bubbles denote
no clear difference between age groups, defined as age ratios within 0.03 points distance to parity.

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

 5

Inequalities between people with different educational attainment in the Netherlands

Education ratios (distance from parity) for selected indicators of current well-being, 2018 or latest available year

Job strain // 0.14

Long-term
unemployment rate
// 0.56

Having a say in
government
0.67

Earnings 0.72

Perceived health 0.84

Employment rate 0.91

Feeling safe 0.91

Long working hours

(in paid work)
0.93

Social support 0.98

Life satisfaction 0.99

Satisfaction with time

use
1.00

Satisfaction with
personal relationships
1.00

People with tertiary education doing better OECD average People with upper secondary education doing better

Note: Grey bubbles denote no clear difference between groups with different educational attainment, defined as education ratios within
0.03 points distance to parity.

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

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Inequalities between top and bottom performers in the Netherlands

Vertical inequalities for selected indicators of current well-being, 2018 or latest available year

Household income of the top 20% relative to the bottom 20% Share of wealth owned by the top 10%, percentage
12 90

80
10 68.3
70

8 60
51.7
50
6 5.4
40
4.3
4 30

20
2
10

0 0

Earnings of the top 10% relative to the bottom 10%, PISA score in science of the top 10% relative to the bottom 10%
full-time employees
6 2
1.75
1.67
5

4
3.4
3
3 1

0 0

Life satisfaction scores of the top 20% relative to the bottom 20% Satisfaction with time use scores of the top 20%
relative to the bottom 20%
4 4

3 3 2.78

2.1
2 2
1.7 1.60

1 1

0 0

Note: For all figures, countries are ranked from left (most unequal) to right (least unequal).

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

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Trends in current well-being since 2010 in the Netherlands - I

Household income
(household net adjusted disposable income, Average
USD at 2017 PPPs*, per capita) OECD NLD
~ 28 000 ~32 000
Income and Wealth

Household wealth
Average
(median net wealth, USD at 2016 PPPs)
NLD OECD
~20 000 ~162 000

S80/S20 income share ratio

(the household income for the top 20%,
Inequality
divided by the household income for the
OECD NLD
bottom 20%) 5.4 4.3

Housing affordability
(share of disposable income remaining after Average
housing costs) OECD NLD
Housing

79.2 80.2

Overcrowding rate
(share of households living in overcrowded Inequality
conditions) OECD NLD
12 4

Employment rate
(employed people aged 25-64, as a share of Average
the population of the same age) OECD NLD
76.5 80.3
Work and Job Quality

Gender wage gap

(difference between male and female median Inequality
wages expressed as a share of male wages) NLD OECD
14.1 12.9

Long hours in paid work

(share of employees usually working 50+ Inequality
hours per week) OECD NLD
7 0.5

Life expectancy
Health

(number of years a newborn can expect to Average

live) OECD NLD
80.5 81.8

Note: The snapshot depicts data for 2018, or the latest available year, for each indicator. The colour of the circle indicates the direction of
change, relative to 2010, or the closest available year: = consistent improvement, = consistent deterioration, = no clear trend,
and white for insufficient time series to determine trends. The OECD average is marked in black. For methodological details, see the Reader’s
Guide of How’s Life? 2020. * = Purchasing Power Parity.

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020

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Trends in current well-being since 2010 in the Netherlands - II

Environmental Knowledge and

Student skills in science

Skills

Average
(PISA mean scores)
OECD NLD
489 503
Quality

Exposure to outdoor air pollution

Inequality
(share of population > WHO threshold)
NLD OECD
99.5 62.8

Life satisfaction
Subjective Well-being

Average
(mean value on a 0-10 scale) OECD NLD
7.4 7.7

Negative affect balance

(share of population reporting more negative Inequality
OECD NLD
than positive feelings and states yesterday)
13 9

Homicides
Average
(per 100 000 population) NLD
OECD
2.4 0.6
Safety

Gender gap in feeling safe

(percentage difference that women feel less Inequality
safe than men when walking alone at night) NLD OECD
-19.1 -16

Time off
Work-life
Balance

(time allocated to leisure and personal care, Average

OECD NLD
hours per day) 15.4
15

Social interactions
Average
Social Connections

(hours per week) OECD NLD

6 8.4

Lack of social support

(share of people who report having no friends
Inequality
or relatives whom they can count on in times OECD NLD
6.6
of trouble) 8.6
Engagement

Voter turnout
Civic

Average
(share of registered voters who cast votes) OECD NLD
69 82

Note: See note on page 7.

HOW’S LIFE? 2020 © OECD 2020