Children of Immigrants in the Netherlands: Growing Up in Diversity

Abstract

Children of immigrants are an increasing share of children living in the Netherlands. At the same time information about the situations in which these children are growing up is generally limited. Despite the wide variety of origins most studies focus on a few origin groups only. The aims of this article are therefore twofold. Main aim is to provide insight into the socio-demographic position of children of immigrants in the Netherlands on six main indicators. I will do so by including the total immigrant population in the Netherlands and separately distinguishing 60 origin groups, as well as, analyzing first and second generation children of immigrants. Data from the population registers of the Netherlands (including the total residing population) are analyzed and in some cases combined with survey sources. Findings show that children of immigrants, overall, have a less favorable position than native Dutch children regarding the socio-demographic position they grow up in. At the same time there is a huge variety between different immigrant origins and different outcome variables under study. Furthermore, the position of first and second generation children is found to vary in several respects. These findings point to the importance of paying sufficient attention to diversity and including the migration history when studying the position of children of immigrants.