Mixed relationships vary according to background

Among the 4.2 million couples in the Netherlands (2016), nearly 659 thousand households - 16 percent of all couples - are made up of a native Dutch partner (either male or female) and a partner with a migration background. Most common are Indonesian-Dutch households (160 thousand), followed by German-Dutch (154 thousand) and Belgian-Dutch households (44 thousand).

There are relatively few mixed couples with one partner of Turkish or Moroccan descent and the other from a native Dutch background: nearly 10 thousand Dutch men and women have a partner of Turkish origin, while over 9 thousand have a partner with Moroccan roots. Married or registered partners of people with Turkish background (male or female) are native Dutch in 11 percent of the cases; this share is 12 percent among those of Moroccan origin. These are mostly couples consisting of a native Dutch female partner and a Turkish or Moroccan male partner.
People from other origin groups are more likely to establish a relationship with someone from outside of that group. For example, 46 percent of all couples including a Surinamese-origin partner are Surinamese-Dutch couples. Almost 90 percent of all couples including a Belgian or a German partner are Belgian-Dutch or German-Dutch couples respectively.

Nearly always in matrimony

Aside from preferring a partner from within their own origin group, people of Turkish or Moroccan origin are also more traditional and get married relatively more often compared to other (origin) couples. Cohabitation is almost non-existent among these groups: nine in ten persons with a Turkish or Moroccan background live together in matrimony. Among couples including a partner with Surinamese or Antillean background, slightly more than half are married couples.