Foreigners contribute to increasing number of households

The number of households in the Netherlands rose by 74 thousand to 6.94 million in 2001. A large part of this growth was caused by the increase in the number of households of people with a foreign background.

Increase in households by ethnic background, 2001

More households with a foreign background

There were 47 thousand more single households, 14 thousand more one-parent households and 13 thousand more couples in 2001 than in 2000. On balance, households with a foreign background account for one third of the increase in the number of single and one-parent households. The increase in the number of couples is entirely caused by couples with a foreign background.

The number of couples in which both partners are of non-western foreign descent rose by 10 thousand, the number in which one partner had a foreign background rose by 4 thousand. The number of couples consisting of two Dutch native partners fell by 5 thousand. The remaining 4 thousand couples are those in which one or both partners was a western foreigner.

Second generation foreigners leaving the nest

The number of households of foreign-born inhabitants has been growing for a number of years now. Immigration is one reason for this, but an increasing part of the rise is caused by the sons and daughters of original immigrants, the second generation, growing up and leaving home to live alone or together with a partner.

The second generation of people with a non-western foreign background accounted for a quarter of the increase in the number of non-western single households between 1997 and 2001. The increase in the number of single people of Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese origin was stronger, even, for the second generation than for the first generation.

The relatively strong growth of first generation single Antilleans is connected with the high migration surplus for Antilleans in the period concerned.

Increase in number of single households by ethnic origin and generation, 1997- 2001

Relative growth

The growth in the number of non-western foreign households is illustrated better with the aid of relative figures. In 2001 the number of native Dutch single households grew by around 1 percent, from 1.84 to 1.86 million. The number of non-western single households grew by 8.5 percent from 210 thousand to 228 thousand.

The number of one-parent households with a native Dutch parent rose by just over 2.5 percent from 272 thousand to 280 thousand. The number of one-parent households with a non-western foreign parent rose from 79 to 85 thousand, an increase of nearly 7 percent.

The number of couples with and without children consisting of two native Dutch people remained about the same in 2001, at 3.2 million. The number of couples in which both partners have a non-western foreign background rose by nearly 5 percent, from 214.2 thousand to 224.5 thousand.

Carel Harmsen