Fewer and fewer refugees with a residence permit are able to support themselves. More than half of the ‘new Dutch citizens’ are now dependent on benefits, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Up to 2011, 38 percent of migrants were grabbing from the national benefit rack, in the period up to 2019 that percentage has risen dramatically to 51 percent. Note that these figures only concern the limited group between 18 and 40 years old. The actual number of foreign nationals who still have not found a job after five years in the Netherlands is therefore higher.
Researchers are concerned and according to migration researcher Jan de Beek this worrying increase is easy to explain. “A larger group of migrants today comes from the Middle East and Africa, where the average level of education is lower. We know from research that education influences job opportunities.”
Ruben van Gaalen, professor at the University of Amsterdam, puts it as follows in De Telegraaf newspaper. “They didn’t come to work either, but for humanitarian reasons.”
De Beek acknowledges this shift. “It remains to be seen whether things will get better in the coming years. With the influx of Syrians and Eritreans in recent years, the average level of education will be even lower.”
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