Between 20% and 40% of foreigners in the Netherlands say they have faced discrimination in their hunt for a job, depending on their ethnic background, according to a new report by the government’s socio-cultural think-tank SCP.

In total, 25% of the population of the Netherlands as a whole said they have faced discrimination of some sort in the past 12 months.

The report, drawn up for the social affairs ministry, shows that age discrimination is the most common form of discrimination in the Netherlands and has been experienced by 10% of the 12,500 people who took part in the survey.

Jobs

In particular, nearly four out of 10 job hunters aged 55 to 64 said they have lost out on a job because of their age. One in four people aged 45 to 54 made the same claim.

Discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin has been experienced by 8% of those polled over the previous year. In particular, one in three students of Turkish and one in four of Moroccan heritage said their ethnicity made it more difficult to find a work-experience place.

And 15% of workers from central or eastern Europe said they were paid less than their Dutch colleagues.

A quarter of gay men and women said they had experienced some form of discrimination in public places over the past year.