Distribution of well-being: summary

Age:

• The picture for well-being is least favourable for 25- to 34-year-olds, but people younger than 25 years also have lower well-being than average. Well-being is much more favourable for people aged 45 to 64 years and for those aged 75 and older.
• Since 2019, the development of well-being has been less favourable for age groups up to 44 years. The trend was relatively favourable among those aged 65 to 74 years.

Education:

•  Differences in well-being are substantial between people with high and those with low levels of education.
• People with a high level of education show more unfavourable than favourable trends since 2019.

Origin/country of birth:

• People born in the Netherlands whose parents were also born in the Netherlands have a relatively high level of well-being and also show a favourable development since 2019.
• People born outside Europe show more unfavourable than favourable trends since 2019.

Accumulation:

• Favourable and unfavourable aspects of well-being accumulate for certain individuals. Favourable outcomes accumulate much more often for individuals with a highlevel of education than for those with a low level of education; low-educated individuals are more likely to have an accumulation of unfavourable outcomes. Substantial differences in accumulation are also seen between the various country of birth/origin groups.

Well-being in the Netherlands is not distributed equally among different population groups. The distribution analysis reveals differences particularly in terms of education level and country of birth/origin, and to a lesser extent between age groups. People with low and medium education levels have lower well-being than those with high levels of education. People who themselves, or whose parent(s) were born outside the Netherlands, have lower well-being than people who were born in the Netherlands and whose parents were also born there. Well-being of young adults up to 25 years old and the age group 25 to 35 years is below average, while people aged 45 to 64 years fare relatively well. There is little difference between men and women, although women have slightly lower well-being than men.

Favourable and unfavourable aspects of well-being accumulate for certain individuals. Favourable outcomes accumulate much more often for individuals with a high level of education than for those with a low level of education; low-educated individuals are more likely to have an accumulation of unfavourable outcomes. Substantial differences in accumulation are also seen between the various country of birth/origin groups.

Overall, distribution of well-being largely remains unchanged compared with 2019. However, the various population groups do show certain trends. Most notably, the situation for younger age groups has become relatively more unfavourable, just as that for people with higher education levels and people born outside Europe. The situation often improved, on the other hand, for 65- to 74-year-olds and people born in the Netherlands, with parents who were also born there.

At the individual level, fewer people than in 2019 show an accumulation of favourable or unfavourable outcomes. The middle group has expanded. The share of under-35s with an accumulation of favourable outcomes fell substantially. Considerably fewer favourable outcomes also accumulated for individuals born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born outside Europe, which is surprising given the relatively favourable developments at group level for these individuals.

Overall picture

The distribution analysis provides insight into the situation in 2023 (for income, wealth and housing expense ratio) and changes since 2019 for population groups by sex, age, education level, and country of birth/origin. Additionally, it reveals whether – and if so, how – favourable and unfavourable outcomes accumulate among individuals and what the characteristics of these individuals are.

Indicators in 2023

The selected indicators show that well-being correlates strongly with origin/country of birth, education level, and to a lesser extent age.

- Sex: differences between men and women are small, but the picture seems to be slightly more favourable for men than for women. Four indicators show a more favourable situation than average for men, and one aspect of well-being is more favourable than average for women.
-This pattern remains intact when correlations between sex on the one hand and age, education level and origin/country of birth on the other are taken into account (the multivariate analysis).

- Age: people in the youngest age groups (younger than 25 and 25 to 34 years) relatively often appear to be in an unfavourable situation. Age groups from 45 to 64 years show many favourable outcomes; eight, compared with four (45 to 54 years) and three (55 to 64 years) unfavourable ones.
- This picture shifts somewhat after taking into account correlations between age on the one hand and sex, education level and origin/country of birth on the other. After correcting for these effects, the situation for the over-75s in particular improves. For the group aged 25 to 54 years the situation becomes more unfavourable. The age group 25 to 34 years ends up in the least favourable position after correction.

- Education level: just as in previous editions of the monitor, major differences between education levels are visible. People with low and – to a lesser extent – medium education levels have more unfavourable than favourable outcomes. Those with high education levels have hardly any unfavourable outcomes. Outcomes for higher educated people are favourable for eleven indicators.
- This picture is reinforced when correlations between education level on the one hand and sex, age and origin/country of birth on the other are taken into account. The pattern for people with lower education levels becomes even more unfavourable, that for higher educated people even more favourable.

- Origin/country of birth: the pattern that emerges on the basis of the new classification of origin/country of birth is familiar from previous editions of the monitor. The picture is very positive for people born in the Netherlands whose parents were also born in the Netherlands: ten favourable outcomes, alongside three neutral and no unfavourable ones. The picture is much more sombre for groups born in the Netherlands of whom one or both parents were born elsewhere, especially if they were born in a country outside Europe. This is even more the case for groups who themselves were born outside the Netherlands, and especially outside Europe.
- The situation hardly changes at all when the relations between origin/country of birth on the one hand and sex, age, and education level on the other are taken into account.

Indicators: changes between 2019 and 2023

Looking at the population as a whole, most of the 13 indicators show changes in 2023 from 2019. For each indicator, we examined whether the change for each population group was more favourable or unfavourable than the average change for the population as a whole. The following developments are worth noting:

• Sex: there were few relevant changes here. The only change more favourable for men than for women was for voluntary work.
• Age: we observed more relatively unfavourable than favourable developments in the younger groups (younger than 25 years, 25 to 34 years and 35 to 44 years). This means well-being decreased slightly in these groups. The group aged 65 to 74 years and the over-75s showed relatively favourable changes from 2019 on the other hand.
• Education level: favourable and unfavourable developments were roughly in balance here. Only for people with high levels of education was the picture negative, with two relatively favourable versus five relatively unfavourable developments.
• Origin/country of birth: here too, relatively favourable and unfavourable changes were roughly even for most groups. The position of people born in the Netherlands whose parents were also born there showed a positive shift, with six indicators showing a relatively favourable change and just one with an unfavourable change. For the group born outside Europe the picture was more negative: five unfavourable versus four favourable changes

Even where no significant relatively favourable/unfavourable developments are observed, a figure may have changed since 2019. This applies both to the total figures and the figures for each group. The detailed data by reporting year, by indicator and by population group are available in the Distribution data table. <>

Indicators: overview

Accumulation: situation in 2023

The accumulation analysis looks at how favourable and unfavourable outcomes, from the perspective of well-being, accumulated individually for the same persons, and what the characteristics of these persons are. Nine indicators are included in the analysis.

The top end of the distribution – the group with favourable well-being on seven or more indicators – consists of 23.3 percent of the adult population. The lower end – people with three or more unfavourable outcomes – comprises 18.7 percent of the population.

We established the following differences in the four population groups:

• Sex: there is a marginal difference between men and women in the accumulation of favourable outcomes. Men are slightly more likely to be at the top end of the distribution.
• Age: people aged 45 to 64 years are relatively likely to accumulate favourable outcomes, while the over-65s are relatively likely not to. The group aged 65 to 74 years most often experience an accumulation of unfavourable outcomes.
• Education level: major differences can be seen here. Accumulations of favourable outcomes are very common among people with higher levels of education. Accumulations of unfavourable outcomes occur frequently among lower education levels.
• Origin/country of birth: here, too, differences are quite large. People born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born outside Europe, and people who were born in Europe (excluding the Netherlands) are slightly more likely to be at the top and slightly less likely to be at the bottom of the distribution than those born outside Europe. People born in the Netherlands whose parents were also both born there show relatively large accumulations of favourable and small accumulations of unfavourable outcomes.

If we take the correlations between sex, age, education level and origin/country of birth into account, education level turns out to have the greatest influence on the number of indicators for which people have a favourable or unfavourable outcome. This is followed by origin/country of birth and age. A country of birth outside Europe is more closely associated with the number of unfavourable indicators, and age between 45 and 64 years with the number of favourable indicators. Sex is the least important factor.

Accumulation: changes compared with 2019

Compared with 2019, the group at the top of the distribution was somewhat smaller in 2023. But so was the group at the bottom. This means the middle group has increased in size: these are the people for which no accumulation of favourable or unfavourable outcomes is evident.

If we look at the various population groups, we notice that:

• The share of men at the top of the distribution fell by slightly more than the share of women. At the bottom of the distribution the share of men remained around the same, while for women it was smaller. The middle group expanded for both men and women compared with 2019.
• The share of young adults (aged 18 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years) with accumulated favourable outcomes decreased by more than average, which resulted in a larger middle group than in 2019. The changes at the top and the bottom of the distribution for age groups 45 to 74 years are around the same in size: slightly more in the top and slightly fewer in the bottom group. This means the size of the middle group remained about the same.
• In terms of education level, the middle group continued to expand. The group at the top as well as the group at the bottom of the distribution became smaller, thus increasing the size of the middle group. However, the lower educated group is still lagging a considerable way behind the other two groups.
• A substantial shift is evident for the group of people born in the Netherlands of whom one or both parents were born outside Europe: the share in the middle group increased strongly, mainly because the share of this group in the top of the distribution decreased. We observed a similar shift towards the middle group among people who themselves were born outside Europe.