The Social Integration of Ethnic Minorities: An Explanation of the Trend in Ethnic Minorities' Social Contacts with Natives in the Netherlands, 1998–2006

Abstract

While many studies have examined the determinants of ethnic minorities' social contacts with natives, far less is known about the trend in these contacts. Our study examines this trend from 1998 to 2006, using large-scale surveys held among the four largest non-Western ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands. The results indicate that ethnic minorities' social contacts with the native Dutch increased after 1998, but that this trend has stagnated since 2002. The relative growth in second-generation ethnic minorities, and their improved education level and socio-economic position, were associated with an increase in their social contacts with the native Dutch. While this development has been largely suppressed by increased ethnic residential concentration, this does not fully explain the stagnation since 2002. An alternative explanation is therefore suggested, based on the harsher societal climate.