Statistics Netherlands | CBS | How are young adults doing in our country?
Statistics Netherlands | CBS
Source published: 19 June 25
How are young adults doing in our country?
This article examines the changes in the lives of young adults in the Netherlands and the challenges they face.
The age at which young adults (25-35 years) become independent is changing. The tight housing market makes it harder for starters to buy their first home, and flexible employment contracts weaken the economic position of young people at the start of their careers. Young adults are living at home longer or returning home after a relationship ends. But what is the norm for parental support? With new data from CBS, Lonneke van den Berg, a researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), investigated how young adulthood is changing and how young adults cope with these changes. Her research clarifies this area. Lonneke van den Berg from NIDI researches the young adult phase, which extends from 25 to 35 years. In 2022 she received the Instituut Gak–KNAW prize for her research proposal ‘The road to adulthood in a knot? The role of uncertain employment positions for the living situation and well-being of young adults.’ In this research, she unraveled the impact of temporary contracts on life transitions and the well-being of young adults.
Differences among young adults are significant
‘Especially young women are increasingly single in the first period after moving out. Many important life steps are postponed: moving out, cohabitation, and also having children. Personal growth and career motives play a large role, but financial considerations are also important: it is becoming increasingly difficult for young couples to find a suitable home for a family,’ says Van den Berg. She sees many changes in a short time and the differences between various groups of young adults are significant. ‘This has to do with many different factors, such as educational level, social background, culture: how you view family. Whether and to what extent parents help varies greatly.’
Path to independence
How young adults and parents judge different scenarios and where the norm for parental support lies, Van den Berg researched with colleague Matthijs Kalmijn based on a survey conducted in collaboration with the popular scientific magazine Quest. For facts and data on themes such as work, living situation, or age, she collaborates with CBS. ‘We know that the CBS figures are very complete and reliable.’ ‘Incidentally, CBS also works a lot with surveys,’ adds Ruben van Gaalen who is a sociologist and demographer, working as a program coordinator for demographic and socio-economic research at CBS. In addition, he has been associated with NIDI as a researcher since 2019. Van Gaalen is closely involved in the research of Van den Berg. Van den Berg gratefully makes use of the compiled files from CBS. ‘The databases in which multi-year statistics are created are very valuable for my research. People — fully anonymized of course — are followed over a period of ten years. These data can be combined with the developments of — also fully anonymized — data from parents and partners.’ Van Gaalen: ‘At CBS, we want to gain more insight into the path to independence of young adults. It is a life phase in which statistics on education, wealth, and economic position come together.’
Significant differences
Van den Berg researched the Dutch situation but also looked across the border. ‘Cultural differences can sometimes be significant. In the Netherlands, self-development is very important. Theoretically educated people find it less logical after their thirties that parents still help. Practically educated people move out later and generally have children earlier, thus making the transition from young adult to adult a bit sooner. But this group suffers from a lack of financial security. If they encounter economic and financial difficulties, parental help is again seen as logical.’ Among lower income groups, the possibilities to do this will be more limited. This reveals inequality that does not resolve itself.
Older mothers at the birth of the first child
Van den Berg is not the first to delve into the trends of young adults. NIDI colleague Daniël van Wijk wrote a dissertation two years ago about the relationship between the economic position of young adults and their age at having children. Van Wijk: ‘The main conclusion is that there is a strong correlation in our country between having a good economic position and the birth of the first child. Both men and women want to have a job before having their first child, preferably a job with a permanent contract. They also want to have sufficient income. People without a permanent job and insufficient income postpone having a child.’ Recent research from CBS shows that the average age at which women become mothers for the first time in 2024 has increased slightly to 30.4 years. In 2023 it was 30.3 years.
Testable conclusions
Research into developments in the life course of young adults is very relevant for making population forecasts. The collaboration between NIDI and CBS is therefore logical. ‘We complement each other well and can be very precise in our descriptions of trends,’ says Van Gaalen. ‘Statistical research and social scientific research into demographic developments reveal trends that can be very valuable for the development of various policy areas. However, caution is warranted,’ says Van Gaalen. ‘We can describe facts, but we must always be very clear about everything we do not know precisely.’ Van den Berg confirms this: ‘I only draw conclusions if I can test them.’
