The Netherlands Faces Population Growth Challenges: Recommendations for Managing Migration and Resources

The rate of population growth is now too high, the report shows. The Netherlands now has almost 18 million inhabitants. That could grow to 19 to 20 million people in 2025, but the committee does not see much more room for improvement.

Although too few children are being born and the aging population is increasing, the population is growing through various forms of migration (work, study, asylum and family reunification). This puts pressure on facilities such as education, healthcare and housing. According to the committee, moderate growth is necessary for the prosperity of the country, and this requires more guidance.

Although the committee emphasizes that controlling migration is only possible to a limited extent, it does come up with a guideline to limit migration: ideally, between 40,000 and 60,000 migrants come to the Netherlands per year, considerably fewer than in the past twenty years.

The committee was established by the cabinet in July 2022 to provide advice on themes such as aging, spatial order, economy and migration.

A similar committee does not exist in Belgium, says demographer Patrick Deboosere (VUB). The dynamics are also different in both countries: the Netherlands has a greater population density. The Federal Planning Bureau produces demographic forecasts every year and there is a study committee on aging. There are no recommendations attached to their reports. “It is up to policymakers to draw conclusions from this and guide policy.”

Deboosere notes that steering demographic processes is difficult to influence through policy. “Our society is regularly confronted with unexpected events, such as corona or the crisis in Ukraine that brought people to the Netherlands and Belgium.”

Implementing the advice therefore seems particularly difficult to him. For example, he points out that most migrant workers are EU citizens who are entitled to free movement. “Nothing is more difficult than controlling migration, unless you drastically restrict freedom of movement.”

The resigning cabinet in The Hague has responded positively to the advice of the state committee on Demographic Developments 2050. The 400-page Moderate Growth report comes at a time when four parties are discussing the formation of a new government.

Also read

2024-01-15 20:41:26
#State #Commission #Netherlands #set #limits #population #growth