The environment has moved into second place on a list of the biggest concerns facing the Dutch, according to the latest quarterly population survey by the government’s socio-cultural think-tank SCP.

The state of Dutch society in general remains top of the list of concerns, with immigration and integration in third place, but both are considered less of an issue now than three months ago, the new survey found.

The number of people who expect similar or better economic conditions has fallen from 79% in the previous quarter to 63% now, but 83% still do not expect any worsening in their own financial situation, the SCP said.

At the same time, the public are more concerned about the climate and the environment, mainly thanks to the crisis around nitrogen compound pollution, the SCP said. The survey involved a representative sample of 1,000 people plus group interviews.

Some 54% of the people questioned for the survey say the Netherlands is ‘heading in the wrong direction’, while 35% think things are going well, overall. This is in line with the previous quarter. But even though people have not become more negative, the final quarter of 2019 was marked by many different mass protests, the SCP points out.

Optimists are most likely to point toward economic growth and high standards of living. Pessimists refer to political incompetence, a hardening of attitudes and immigration as a threat to the national identity and welfare state, the SCP said.

Integration

This quarter the researchers paid specific attention to the issue of integration and found the native Dutch remain concerned about what they see as the lack of willingness by foreigners to integrate in the Netherlands.

Immigrants, however, are more inclined to see integration as a two-way street, the survey found.

Some 80% of the native Dutch said immigrants should accept Dutch norms and values and 54% said they should adopt Dutch cultural traditions.

People with an ethnic minority background are more likely to emphasise respect for different traditions and second generation immigrants are concerned about discrimination, exclusion and inequality. In addition, many second generation immigrants say they are not treated as Dutch citizens despite being born and brought up here, the SCP said.