Today’s well-being increasingly comes at the expense of future generations

Well-being concerns quality of life in the here and now, but also the extent to which this impacts the well-being of future generations and people living elsewhere in the world. The 2024 monitor reveals that the Dutch are very satisfied with life in general, and with specific aspects, such as housing, living environment, work-life balance and social contacts. The Netherlands also ranks among the highest-scoring countries in the European Union (EU) in terms of trust in other people, trust in institutions, social contacts and active membership of clubs and associations.

What is more, the Netherlands is one of the most prosperous countries in the EU, and Dutch median disposable household income is on an upward medium-term trend. Economically vulnerable groups in society – people who have only completely primary education or secondary vocational education, the unemployed, self-employed on low incomes and people with serious long-term health issues – are becoming smaller, in relative terms. Labour market opportunities are also abundant and continue to multiply. Job vacancy rates are high, many of those who are able to work actually do so, and long-term unemployment is relatively low and is falling.

Not everyone is benefiting from high material well-being

At the same time, however, not everyone is sharing in this prosperity. Purchasing power has been under increased pressure in recent years, as a result of the sharp rise in the cost of living. Significant numbers of people are worried about their future finances. Although the share of vulnerable groups in the population is decreasing, and is relatively small, it still numbers a few hundred thousand people.

Well-being ‘later’ is under increasing pressure

While economic, human and social capital remain more or less stable, natural capital continues to decline in terms of both size and quality. Although industrial production processes are gradually becoming more sustainable, just as in previous years the Netherlands is still one of the EU countries where the pressure on nature and climate is the highest. It had one of the EU’s highest surpluses of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in 2019, for example. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus have adverse consequences for the quality of surface water and ecosystems such as heathlands, forests and dunes. This has resulted in substantial pressure on the environment, which has hardly decreased in recent years, and is particularly evident in the ongoing decline of biodiversity on land and marshland and in freshwater. Together with degradation of the living environment, this also poses a long-term risk to the Dutch economy, which relies fairly heavily on the services that these ecosystems provide, such as pollination and raw materials.

In addition to this, a number of institutions and systems that are crucial to the well-being of future generations seem to be coming to a standstill. Ageing, urbanisation, migration and other long-term trends are gradually leading to more pressure on well-being ‘later’. Dutch people are growing ever more dissatisfied with respect to the regulatory quality of governance, government effectiveness, the rule of law and perceived public-sector corruption. All of this is eroding the government’s authority. Other critical systems, such as healthcare, education, the housing market and the pensions system are also at risk from staff shortages, increasing rents and home prices – preventing people moving up the housing ladder – and financially sustainable pension schemes.

Well-being ‘elsewhere’: thriving trade with high-income countries and high imports of raw materials and auxiliary products

Well-being-‘elsewhere’ indicators reflect the high burden that the Netherlands places on other countries. High-income countries benefit the most from trade, although income transfers and spending on development aid are relatively high. The volumes of fossil fuels, biomass, metals and non-metallic minerals imported into the Netherlands remain among the highest in the EU on a per capita basis.