Trends in Religious Affiliation of Parents of Primary School Children in the Netherlands in The Period 1995-2005: Exploration of Correlation with Sex, Ethnicity and Socio-Economic Background

Abstract

The Netherlands is known for its high level of secularisation, a process which gained impetus in the 1960s. At about the same time a huge influx of non-Western immigrants from diverse religious backgrounds got under way. Although immigrants now constitute more than 10 percent of the Dutch population, there has been very little research into the relation between ethnicity and religion. This article explores the relationship between religious affiliation and not just ethnicity but also sex and socio-economic background. Using data from six surveys conducted in the national Primary Education cohort study (PRIMA), which provides information on some 120,000 parents of primary school pupils, developments in the period 1995-2005 were analysed. The results of a number of descriptive analyses show a steady decline in religious affiliation and an increase in the number of Muslims. They also point to strong contamination of the following factors: Islamic, Turkish and Moroccan background, and socio-economic disadvantage.