Summary

This report concerns persons who were required to participate in civic integration programmes in the Netherlands in 2022 and 2023 under the Civic Integration Act 2021. It differentiates between asylum migrants on the one hand, and family and other migrants on the other hand. The report describes the demographic and educational characteristics of this group, the pre-integration process, housing, regional distribution, the civic integration overseen by the municipalities and labour force participation, from the introduction of the civic integration requirement until the end of 2023.

Population

Demographic characteristics

The 2022 cohort consists of 26.2 thousand persons required to participate in civic integration and the 2023 cohort consists of a larger such group totalling 36.1 thousand persons. Approximately three-quarters of the 2022 cohort are asylum migrants (18.9 thousand) and around a quarter are family or other migrants (7.3 thousand). In the 2023 cohort, the share of asylum migrants is lower, at 61 percent (22.2 thousand), and the share of family and other migrants is higher (39 percent, or 13.9 thousand). Asylum migrants are more likely to be men (59 percent in the 2022 cohort; 64 percent in the 2023 cohort) than women, but women make up the majority of family and other migrants (68 percent). Among asylum migrants, the largest number of people required to participate in civic integration programmes are in the 18-24 age group; among family and other migrants, the largest number are in the 35-34 age group. Half the asylum migrants came from Syria (50 percent or 20.4 thousand). Other countries of origin among asylum migrants are Turkey, Yemen, Eritrea and Afghanistan (29 percent or 12 thousand came from these countries, combined). Many of the family and other migrants originate from Morocco, Turkey and various countries in Asia (31 percent or 6.5 thousand). 

The position within the household is determined when the migrant first settles in the relevant municipality. Around 93 percent of asylum migrants in the 2022 cohort and 59 percent of asylum migrants in the 2023 cohort had settled in the relevant municipality by the end of 2023. Of these, around one-third of asylum migrants were single (10.5 thousand) and slightly under one-third formed part of a couple with children (9.1 thousand). A total of 5.6 thousand asylum migrants were adult children in a family with parents. Among family and other migrants, the distribution according to the position within the household was different from the distribution among asylum migrants. Partners in a couple without children (12.1 thousand) and partners in a couple with children (4.3 thousand) together made up more than three-quarters of all family and other migrants. Furthermore, 13 percent of family and other migrants were single (2.8 thousand).

Education in the Netherlands

Around 1 in 10 of those undergoing civic integration had attended education in the Netherlands before starting the civic integration process (11 percent). This concerns almost exclusively those in the 18-34 age group.  In 97 percent of cases in which asylum migrants had attended education in the Netherlands before the start of civic integration, they had been in secondary vocational education (50 percent) or secondary education (47 percent). This share was significantly lower among family and other migrants, at 39 percent. Family and other migrants more likely than asylum migrants to have been in HBO (22 percent) or university education (39 percent). 

Education abroad

As of 31 December 2023, 6 thousand persons subject to the civic integration requirement – of whom 5.3 thousand were asylum migrants and 0.7 thousand were family and other migrants – had had their diploma assessed. In more than three-quarters of cases, the diploma was assessed as a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Pre-integration

The pre-integration process involves providing asylum migrants who are required to participate in civic integration with practical information regarding living independently and life in the Netherlands, and helping them to start learning the Dutch language. The pre-integration process is non-mandatory for asylum migrants who are required to participate in civic integration. Of the total of 28 thousand asylum migrants who were asked if they would like to participate in the pre-integration process, 21.3 thousand asylum migrants (76 percent) agreed to do so. A total of 15.5 thousand of the asylum migrants then actually participated in language classes as part of the pre-integration process, and by the end of 2023 3.5 thousand asylum migrants had completed these language classes. Some potential reasons for failing to complete the pre-integration process include that the relevant individuals had already begun classes with the municipality, had found employment, had not been able to arrange childcare, or had found it difficult to return to education after a long time. Some of the asylum migrants who are required to integrate are not offered the opportunity of pre-integration. This is the case if, for example, they are staying in emergency accommodation that is not managed by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum seekers (COA) or have been staying with acquaintances since arriving in the Netherlands. It is also the case for asylum migrants who have never had an accommodation agreement with the COA.

Housing and distribution

Of the 41.1 thousand asylum migrants in the 2022 cohort and 2023 cohort, many were in COA accommodation for a time or for an extended period following the beginning of the civic integration requirement. As of 31 December 2023, 10.8 thousand asylum migrants in this group (26 percent) were still in COA accommodation. In the case of family and other migrants, these are always being housed by a municipality at the start of the civic integration requirement.

As of 31 December 2023, more than half of asylum migrants from the 2023 cohort had moved between reception locations at least twice before they could be housed by a municipality.

Almost one in six asylum migrants are placed with the same municipality in which they are being accommodated in a COA reception location. Among asylum migrants who are placed in a different municipality to the one in which they are being accommodated in a COA reception location (a total of 25.2 thousand asylum migrants), the distance between the two municipalities varies greatly. More than half of asylum migrants (13 thousand) were accommodated at a reception centre within 65 kilometres of the municipality in which they were placed. Around 1 in 5 (4.7 thousand) were accommodated in a reception centre more than 145 kilometres away from the municipality in which they were placed.

Asylum migrants are generally more dispersed across the Netherlands than family and other migrants. This is because asylum migrants are placed with municipalities in numbers that reflect the population of the relevant municipality, and they are therefore more evenly distributed across the Netherlands. Even so, smaller municipalities are more likely to accommodate a disproportionately high number of asylum migrants (when population is taken into account). Family and other migrants live mainly in the large cities in the west of the country.

Civic integration by municipalities

After the start of the civic integration requirement and when housing has been provided by the municipality (and in some cases before), a general intake procedure is carried out to assess the start position and development opportunities for each participant. Among asylum migrants in the 2022 cohort, the period between the start of the civic integration requirement and the general intake is more than three months in almost two-thirds of cases. This is high, partly because most asylum migrants are accommodated at a COA reception location for some time after the start of the civic integration requirement and municipalities do not usually start the general intake at that point. Among family and other migrants in the 2022 cohort, this period is longer than three months in 34 percent of cases.

Based on the conclusions of the general intake combined with the results of a learning aptitude test, a learning pathway is determined. The details of this are recorded in the form of an official decision in a ‘Personal Integration and Participation Plan’ (PIP).

The B1 route is the learning pathway that is followed the most frequently; this is particularly the case among family and other migrants, but less so among asylum migrants. In almost all cases where the ‘Z route’ is taken, the learning aptitude test shows that language level B1 is not attainable. The result of the learning aptitude test is therefore often consistent with the learning pathway selected, but does not always seem to have determined the learning pathway specified in the PIP.

Among asylum migrants in the 2022 cohort, 87 percent of those who had settled in a municipality by the end of 2023 had a PIP in place. In cases of asylum migrants in the 2022 cohort for whom a PIP had been drawn up by the end of 2023, in nearly half of all cases (45 percent) this occurred within 10 weeks of settling in the municipality. A total of 87 percent of family and other migrants from the 2022 cohort had a PIP in place by the end of 2023. In 22 percent of cases, this occurred within ten weeks of settling in the municipality.

This report does not consider the civic integration process subsequent to the decision regarding the learning pathway, such as participants switching between pathways, dropping out, participation in PVT and MAP, exams passed and the completion of the civic integration requirement.

Participation in the labour market

In the period prior to the announcement of the civic integration requirement (measured from 1 January 2021), 4 percent of asylum migrants with an accommodation agreement with the COA had been in employment at some point (1.5 thousand). After the announcement of the civic integration requirement, 1 in 5 asylum migrants were in employment at some point during the period of the COA accommodation agreement (6.6 thousand). More men are in employment (29 percent) than women (4 percent).

The share of asylum migrants in employment increases after they settle in the municipality. Just over a quarter of male asylum migrants (4.7 thousand) were in paid work in the first year after settling in the municipality, and one in ten female asylum migrants (1.4 thousand) were. These were mainly part-time jobs, and in over one-third of cases, asylum migrants were working in the accommodation and food services sector three months after settling in the municipality. 

Family and other migrants are more likely to be in paid work than asylum migrants. Among family and other migrants in the 2022 cohort, three-quarters of men and over half of women are in employment in the first year after settling in the municipality. The share of part-time jobs is also lower in this group than among asylum migrants. In about 1 in 5 cases, within three months of being allocated housing, family and other migrants are enrolled with job placement services, temporary employment agencies and human resource management. Around 1 in 6 of them are working in the accommodation and food services at that point. 

A total of 87 percent of asylum migrants in the 2022 cohort were receiving benefits (mainly income support) in the first year of settling in the municipality, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 family and other migrants. One requirement for family and other migrants is that the income of the reference person is sufficient.

Civic integration requirement completed

Out of all 62.3 thousand persons subject to the civic integration requirement, 175 (<1 percent) had completed the civic integration process by the end of 2023. Nearly 2 thousand had also received a full (0.5 thousand) or temporary (1.4 thousand) exemption and were therefore no longer subject to the requirement. In addition, 0.5 thousand persons were no longer subject to the civic integration requirement at the end of 2023 for some other reason, often because they had become Dutch citizens by naturalisation.