Distribution of well-being: accumulation
The differences between population groups for the individual indicators do not necessarily relate to the same people. At the individual level, outcomes can accumulate across different themes. Many people have a higher well-being in some areas and lower well-being in others. For some people, we observe an accumulation of outcomes: they have high well-being or low well-being for many themes.
- The accumulation of favourable outcomes is primarily concentrated among those with higher vocational and university educations, but also among people born in the Netherlands whose parents were also born in the Netherlands in the 45-64 age range. Men are slightly more likely to be at the top of the distribution than women.
- The accumulation of unfavourable outcomes is common among people with primary education or a prevocational secondary (VMBO) qualification, people born outside Europe and those aged 65 to 74. At the bottom, women are slightly more likely to experience an accumulation of unfavourable outcomes than men.
- If we take account of the correlations between indicators, we see that health is most strongly correlated with the number of favourable outcomes. Next comes being in paid employment, which is strongly correlated with the number of favourable outcomes. Health and paid employment are also the most significant indicators for the number of unfavourable outcomes. Trust in others is also strongly correlated with the accumulation of unfavourable outcomes.
Accumulation of favourable and unfavourable outcomes
The section on the Indicators examines how, for various population groups, well-being ‘here and now’ differs from that of the population as a whole for individual indicators. However, if a population group scores below average for an indicator, this does not mean that every member of that group will have a low score for that indicator. For example, on average, 85.3 percent of the population are satisfied with life, but among 18 to 24-year-olds, the figure is 78.5 percent. Although this is below average, the majority of young adults are still happy with their life.
Moreover, not everyone who scores less than average for one of the indicators will also score below average on the other indicators for which the group in question has a relatively low score. Sometimes, the same people have favourable or unfavourable outcomes for several individual indicators.
This raises the question of whether favourable or unfavourable outcomes are evenly distributed across all members a population group, or whether the same people score above and below average each time. In other words, do favourable or unfavourable outcomes accumulate? To find out whether this is the case, we examine a selection of well-being ‘here and now’ indicators per individual. If favourable or unfavourable outcomes accumulate in individuals, we look at the extent to which this is the case, and for whom: what are the characteristics of those individuals?
The data on how many favourable and unfavourable outcomes accumulate at the individual level are based on Statistics Netherlands’ 2024 survey on social cohesion & well-being, along with related figures from the integrated income and wealth statistics for the previous year. A ‘score’ on various well-being indicators is calculated for each person. The selected indicators fall under the eight ‘well-being here and now’ themes.
The basic principle followed was to incorporate at least one indicator for each of the eight themes. In practice, this was achieved for six of the eight themes, with two indicators being included for both ‘material well-being’ and ‘society’. The ‘labour and leisure time’ theme comprises two subjects and is also described using two indicators. In total that makes nine indicators. These are shown in the table below, which also shows when an outcome is considered to be favourable or unfavourable. Although the set of indicators used here is the same as in the 2024 edition of the monitor, it should be noted that they differ from the reference year 2019. For comparison purposes, some analyses have therefore been repeated for the reference year 2019. More detailed information can be found in the Technical explanation.
| Monitor-theme | Indicator | Unfavourable | Medium | Favourable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjective well-being | Life satisfaction | Score of 1-4 | Score of 5-6 | Score of 7-10 |
| Material well-being | Standardised disposable income | Lowest 20% group | Middle 3 20% group | Highest 20% group |
| Household income | Lowest 20% group | Middle 3 20% group | Highest 20% group | |
| Health | Self-perception of health | Fair | - | Very good |
| Labour and leisure time | Net labour participation | Not in employment, aged under 75 | Not in employment, aged 75 or older | |
| Housing | Home satisfaction | Score of 1-4 | Score of 5-6 | Score of 7-10 |
| Society | Trust in people | No trust | - | Do have trust |
| Trust in instiutions (police, judges, House of Commons) | No trust in any of the three institutions | Trust in one or two institutions | ||
Overall picture
On average, in 2024 people had favourable outcomes for 5.2 of the nine indicators, neutral outcomes for 2.2 indicators and unfavourable outcomes for 1.4 indicators. For the purposes of the analysis, the group of people with favourable well-being outcomes for seven or more indicators constitutes the top of the distribution. This group represents 24.3 percent of the population. The group of people with at least three unfavourable outcomes constitutes the bottom of the distribution; 18.1 percent of the population fall into this group. The remainder (57.6 percent) make up the middle of the distribution.
As a result of changes to the indicator set and the boundaries between the upper and lower ends of the distribution, accumulation figures in pre-2022 editions of the monitor are not directly comparable with the figures in this edition. If the new selection and boundaries are applied to 2019 data, the group of people for whom favourable outcomes converge is virtually the same (24.3 percent in 2024, versus 24.7 percent in 2019). The group of people for whom unfavourable outcomes accumulate has shrunk (18.1 percent now, compared with 20.1 percent in 2019). As a result, the middle group – for whom neither favourable nor unfavourable outcomes accumulate – has increased (from 55.2 percent in 2019 to 57.6 percent in 2024). Although the size of the group at the top of the distribution is virtually unchanged, it should be noted that it was larger in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 (27.5 and 25.7 percent, respectively) and smaller in the following years, 2022 and 2023 (22.7 and 23.3 percent, respectively).
| Top | Middel | Bottom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Total | -0.4 | 2.4 | -2 |
| Gender | Men | -0.7 | 2.5 | -1.7 |
| Gender | Women | 0 | 2.3 | -2.2 |
| Level of eduction | Primary eduction, VMBO, MBO1 | -2 | 3.1 | -1.1 |
| Level of eduction | HAVO, VWO, MBO2-4 | 0.2 | 3.3 | -3.5 |
| Level of eduction | HBO, WO | -4.1 | 4.4 | -0.3 |
| Age | 18-24 | 0.2 | 1.7 | -1.9 |
| Age | 25-34 | 1.2 | 0.7 | -2 |
| Age | 35-44 | 3.7 | -1.4 | -2.4 |
| Age | 45-54 | -0.2 | 1.6 | -1.4 |
| Age | 55-64 | 0.3 | 0.9 | -1.1 |
| Age | 65-74 | -2 | 3.8 | -2 |
| Age | 75+ | -1.9 | 3.3 | -1.3 |
| Origin/Country of birth | Born in the Netherlands, parents born in the Netherlands | 0.7 | 2.4 | -3.2 |
| Origin/Country of birth | Born in the Netherlands, parent(s) born in Europe | 5 | -7.5 | 2.6 |
| Origin/Country of birth | Born in the Netherlands, parent(s) born outside of Europe | -6.3 | 8 | -1.7 |
| Origin/Country of birth | Born in Europ (excl. the Netherlands) | 0.5 | 1 | -1.5 |
| Origin/Country of birth | Born outside of Europe | -3.1 | 3.3 | -0.2 |
Situation of population groups in 2024
The data for the differences between population groups for the individual indicators showed that people’s level of educational attainment and origin are both strongly correlated with above-average or below-average well-being. There are also substantial differences between age groups. The differences between men and women are relatively small, but here, too, we see that men are more likely to have favourable outcomes. The extent to which individual members of these population groups experience an accumulation of favourable or unfavourable outcomes is described below.
Sex
Age
Level of education achieved
Origin/country of birth
| Category | Group | unfavourable outcomes (%) | non-favourable and non-unfavourable outcomes (%) | favourable outcomes (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Men | 16.6 | 56.7 | 26.7 |
| Sex | Women | 19.5 | 58.5 | 22 |
| Age | 18-24 | 19.4 | 54 | 26.6 |
| Age | 25-34 | 16.1 | 58.7 | 25.2 |
| Age | 35-44 | 14.7 | 61.1 | 24.2 |
| Age | 45-54 | 16.9 | 53.2 | 29.9 |
| Age | 55-64 | 19.8 | 47.9 | 32.2 |
| Age | 65-74 | 27.9 | 53.9 | 18.1 |
| Age | 75 and older | 11.3 | 80.2 | 8.5 |
| Level of education achieved | Primary education, vmbo, mbo-1 | 32.1 | 58.8 | 9.2 |
| Level of education achieved | Havo, vwo, mbo-2-4 | 17.3 | 62.1 | 20.5 |
| Level of education achieved | Hbo, university | 8.5 | 53 | 38.5 |
| Origin/country of birth | Born in NL, parent(s) from NL | 13.7 | 59.2 | 27.1 |
| Origin/country of birth | Born in NL, parent(s) from Europe | 22.6 | 53.2 | 24.3 |
| Origin/country of birth | Born in NL, parent(s) from outside Europe | 25.7 | 55.8 | 18.5 |
| Origin/country of birth | Born in Europe (exl. NL) | 22.4 | 60.1 | 17.6 |
| Origin/country of birth | Born outside Europe | 39.9 | 47.4 | 12.7 |
Level of educational attainment. When we look at the accumulation of favourable and unfavourable outcomes, we see that there are major differences between levels of educational attainment. Of those with higher vocational or university education, 39 percent are found at the top of the distribution, with high well-being, against 21 percent of people with a HAVO, VWO or MBO qualification and 9 percent of people with primary education or a VMBO qualification. People in the latter group are more likely to be at the bottom of the distribution; this is true for 32 percent. The proportions are significantly lower among the other two groups, at 9 percent and 17 percent, respectively. The accumulation of favourable outcomes is therefore highly concentrated among those with higher vocational or university education, while those with primary education or a VMBO qualification account for the greatest accumulation of unfavourable outcomes. This picture is consistent with previous years. The group with a VMBO or equivalent qualification are relatively more likely to have unfavourable scores for being in paid employment, trust in other people, income and health.
Origin. With regard to the accumulation of favourable and unfavourable outcomes among people with different origins, the picture is slightly more nuanced than the results from the 13 separate indicators. The broad outlines are comparable, however. People born in the Netherlands with parents also born in the Netherlands are relatively more likely to be at the top of the distribution, and relatively less likely to be at the bottom. People born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born elsewhere in Europe are also more likely to be towards the top of the distribution, but this group contains significantly more individuals with an unfavourable accumulation than we see among people of Dutch origin. People born outside Europe are relatively often found towards the bottom and less often towards the top of the distribution. The group born outside Europe score relatively unfavourably, particularly for wealth, income, being in paid employment and trust in others. However, trust in institutions is relatively high among this group. The other origin groups fall in between these groups.
Age. People aged 45 to 64 are relatively likely to be at the top of the distribution. Favourable outcomes accumulate for nearly 1 in 3 of them, which is above the average of 24 percent. This is much less true for those aged 65 or over: 18 percent of people aged between 65 and 74 and 8 percent of those aged 75 or over have an accumulation of favourable outcomes. Unfavourable outcomes do nevertheless accumulate less than average in the latter group: 11 percent versus an average of 18 percent. This means that a relatively large number of those aged 75 or over are in the middle group: 80 percent of them have fewer than three unfavourable outcomes, but also fewer than 7 favourable ones. An accumulation of unfavourable outcomes is relatively common among 65 to 74-year-olds, however: 28 percent (as against 18 percent on average). After all, people aged 65 or older are less likely to be in paid employment, and therefore relatively often score unfavourably on income, but they also score relatively unfavourably in terms of health. On the other hand, they are more likely to score favourably on wealth and satisfaction with their leisure time. So the accumulation picture for people in this age group differs from the picture for 65 to 74-year-olds on the basis of the 13 separate well-being indicators: in the latter case, the group had more favourable than unfavourable outcomes.
Sex. Men are slightly more likely to be at the top of the distribution (27 percent) than women (22 percent). At the bottom, women are slightly more likely to experience an accumulation of unfavourable outcomes (20 percent) than men (17 percent). Women are also slightly more likely than men to be in the middle group, in which there is no accumulation of favourable or unfavourable outcomes. In particular, women are less likely than men to score favourably for health, being in paid employment, income and trust. However, the differences between men and women are not as great as between other characteristics.
| Total (%) | Men (%) | Women (%) | Primary education, vmbo, mbo-1 (%) | Havo, vwo, mbo-2-4 (%) | Hbo, university (%) | Under 25 (%) | 25 to 35 (%) | 35 to 45 (%) | 45 to 55 (%) | 55 to 65 (%) | 65 to 75 (%) | Over 75 (%) | Born in NL, parent(s) from NL (%) | Born in NL, parent(s) from Europe (%) | Born in NL, parent(s) from outside Europe (%) | Born in Europe (exl. NL) (%) | Born outside Europe (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| 1 | 2.3 | 2 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 5.8 |
| 2 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 9.1 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 3.5 | 7.7 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 8.3 |
| 3 | 10.1 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 16.2 | 9.9 | 6.1 | 8.5 | 9.8 | 7.9 | 9.4 | 7.8 | 11.8 | 17.3 | 8.5 | 10.3 | 11.4 | 16.2 | 16.4 |
| 4 | 15.9 | 15.1 | 16.8 | 22.6 | 16.6 | 10.4 | 16.3 | 14.6 | 12.9 | 13.3 | 11.9 | 20 | 26.6 | 15.1 | 13.2 | 19.2 | 15.7 | 20.9 |
| 5 | 21.6 | 21.2 | 22.1 | 23.8 | 24 | 18.1 | 21.6 | 22.2 | 24.4 | 19.4 | 17.7 | 23.1 | 24.6 | 21.7 | 21.4 | 22.7 | 21.3 | 20.5 |
| 6 | 20.9 | 21.3 | 20.5 | 13.7 | 22.6 | 24.2 | 19.7 | 23.4 | 24.6 | 20.8 | 21.6 | 19.1 | 14.6 | 22.2 | 20.4 | 17.7 | 20.5 | 14.1 |
| 7 | 15.4 | 16.8 | 14 | 6.9 | 14.1 | 22.5 | 17.2 | 17.6 | 15.5 | 19 | 17.1 | 11.5 | 7.1 | 16.9 | 17.1 | 12.7 | 10.9 | 8.9 |
| 8 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 6.6 | 2 | 5.5 | 12.5 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 7 | 8.2 | 11.6 | 5.7 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 7.2 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 3.5 |
| 9 | 1.7 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 1 | 0 | 2.1 | 0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| Total (%) | Men (%) | Women (%) | Primary education, vmbo, mbo-1 (%) | Havo, vwo, mbo-2-4 (%) | Hbo, university (%) | Under 25 (%) | 25 to 35 (%) | 35 to 45 (%) | 45 to 55 (%) | 55 to 65 (%) | 65 to 75 (%) | Over 75 (%) | Born in NL, parent(s) from NL (%) | Born in NL, parent(s) from Europe (%) | Born in NL, parent(s) from outside Europe (%) | Born in Europe (exl. NL) (%) | Born outside Europe (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 31.4 | 33.5 | 29.3 | 15.8 | 30.2 | 43.3 | 27.7 | 36.8 | 38.6 | 37 | 36 | 10.9 | 27.1 | 34.8 | 31.2 | 20.3 | 26.8 | 17.4 |
| 1 | 31.1 | 30.9 | 31.3 | 27.2 | 32.4 | 33.1 | 32.2 | 29.7 | 30.3 | 28.8 | 28.6 | 33.7 | 37 | 33.3 | 28.1 | 28.4 | 26.3 | 21 |
| 2 | 19.4 | 19 | 19.8 | 24.9 | 20.1 | 15.1 | 20.7 | 17.4 | 16.4 | 17.3 | 15.5 | 27.4 | 24.6 | 18.2 | 18.1 | 25.6 | 24.5 | 21.7 |
| 3 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 11 | 17.6 | 10.3 | 5.2 | 10.5 | 10 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 16.9 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 13 | 14.3 | 14.4 | 17.4 |
| 4 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 6.1 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 5.9 | 7.5 | 4.6 | 12.4 |
| 5 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 2 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 3 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 3 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 6.8 |
| 6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0 | 2.6 |
| 7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.8 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The characteristics of the population described in this chapter are to some extent connected. For example, people born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born abroad are usually relatively young, while older people are less likely than average to have higher vocational/university or equivalent education. If we take these correlations into account, we find that educational attainment is most closely linked to the number of indicators for which people have a favourable or unfavourable outcome, followed by origin and age. Country of birth outside Europe correlates slightly more with the number of unfavourable indicators, and age with the number of favourable indicators. The weakest correlation is with sex.
As well as population characteristics (sex, age, origin and educational attainment), the indicators of well-being also correlate to a certain degree – for example, income and wealth: self-perceived health and being in paid employment (or not) are also correlated. If we take account of the correlations between indicators, we see that health is most closely correlated with the number of favourable outcomes, followed by being in paid employment. Health and paid employment are also the most significant indicators for the number of unfavourable outcomes. Trust in others is also strongly correlated with the accumulation of unfavourable outcomes.
For different population groups, specific indicators are relatively more or less related to the number of favourable or unfavourable outcomes than average. For 55- to 64-year-olds, being in paid employment correlates more closely with the number of favourable outcomes than it does for others. For those aged 65 or over, wealth is a relatively more important factor in this regard. For 18- to 34-year-olds, satisfaction with leisure time is also a key indicator, whereas for higher age groups it is less so.
While, on average, being in paid employment, health and trust in other people are most strongly correlated with the number of unfavourable outcomes, for those aged 75 or over, being in work is relatively less related and income is relatively more related to the number of unfavourable outcomes. For people not born in the Netherlands, satisfaction with their homes is also relatively more strongly correlated with the number of unfavourable outcomes than for people with a different origin/country of birth.
Changes compared to 2019
Due to a change in the selection of indicators and changes to the boundary between the upper and lower ends of the distribution, accumulation figures from previous editions of this monitor are not directly comparable with the figures in this edition. In order to highlight the trend in accumulation, the new indicator selection and demarcation have also been applied to the data from the reference year 2019. This shows that 0.4 percentage point fewer people fall at the top of the distribution (24.3 percent in 2024, compared to 24.7 percent in 2019). The group at the bottom has also shrunk by 2.0 percentage points. With regard to the specific population groups, the following is worth noting:
- The proportion of men at the top of the distribution has fallen by 0.7 percentage point, while the proportion of women is unchanged. At the bottom of the distribution, the proportion of men has fallen slightly less sharply (-1.7 percent) than the proportion of women; the share of the latter with an unfavourable accumulation has declined by 2.2 percentage points. The middle group has grown among both men and women since 2019.
- As regards the development for the different age groups, we observe that the share of 18- to 44-year-olds in the middle group has grown. Among 18- to 24-year-olds and 35- to 44-year-olds, this is primarily because the group at the top has shrunk, whereas among 25- to 34-year-olds, the group at the bottom of the distribution is smaller than it was in 2019. People aged 65 to 74 in particular are more likely to be at the top of the distribution than in 2019.
- For the different levels of educational attainment, we see a trend towards the middle. The groups at the top and bottom of the distribution have grown smaller or remained virtually the same. As a result, the group in the middle of the distribution has grown larger. Among those with a HAVO, VWO or MBO qualification, the middle group has grown by 3.8 percentage points; for those with higher vocational or university education, the figure is 3.3 percentage points.
- In the case of origin, a notable change is that a larger proportion of people born in the Netherlands with one or both parents born outside Europe were in the middle group of the distribution in 2024 (8.0 percentage points) than in 2019. This is mainly because their share of the top group has fallen, by 6.3 percentage points. A comparable shift towards the middle group is visible for people who were themselves born outside Europe. The group at the top has shrunk by 3.1 percentage points. The group in the middle of the distribution, by contrast, has grown by over 3.3 percentage points. On the other hand, people born in the Netherlands with one or both parents born elsewhere in Europe are more likely than in 2019 to be found at the top of the distribution (5 percentage point increase) and less likely to be in the middle group (8 percentage point fall).