Well-being social capital

Social capital concerns the quality of social connections within society. Trust and strong social relations are a precondition for a functioning society and economy.

• A relatively high proportion of Dutch people have relatively high levels of trust in other people and institutions compared with other EU countries.
• Compared with other EU countries, a relatively high proportion of people feel discriminated against.
• Social cohesion within residential neighbourhoods was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2021.

Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being

Some of the relevant indicators for social capital are also addressed in themes under well-being ‘here and now’. This theme considers the resources underlying social capital which future generations need to shape their well-being. If the current generation exhausts or diminishes the available capitals, the following generation will not be able to achieve the same level of well-being ‘here and now’.

Mutual trust not only contributes to welfare, it is also necessary for a functioning society and is therefore important for future generations. Approximately two-thirds of the population aged 15 and over say they trust other people. This percentage is rising and is high compared with other EU countries. In 2023, the Netherlands was in second place, behind Finland. Social activities lead to mutual trust. For the first time in years, the proportion of the population who report having social interactions with family, friends or neighbours at least once a week has stopped falling. In addition, a growing percentage of the population provided unpaid assistance to others outside their own households in their free time. Nearly 80 percent of the population are satisfied or very satisfied with their social life (SDG 10.1 Social cohesion and inequality). Here, too, the trend is no longer falling.

Trust in institutions is high. Trust in the courts and the police is high and growing. Trust in civil servants, the House of Representatives, local councils and the European Union increased between 2023 and 2024 (SDG 16.1 Security and peace and SDG 16.2 Institutions). International figures on good governance (from the World Bank) reveal that the quality of Dutch public institutions is high compared with other countries (SDG 16.2 Institutions).

However, a relatively high proportion of people feel discriminated against. In 2023, 12 percent of the population aged 15 years and over regarded themselves as belonging to a group that is subject to discrimination. That is approximately the same as in 2020 and the second highest percentage of the 19 EU countries for which comparison is possible. Social cohesion within residential neighbourhoods was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2021 (SDG 11.2 Living environment). In 2023, people gave a rating of 6.5 for social cohesion, compared to 6.6 in 2021. In the long term, social cohesion is fairly constant. Shared ethical standards and moral values promote social cohesion and act as glue within society. In 2024, approximately 20 percent of adults felt that ethical standards and moral values were either stable or moving in the right direction (SDG 10.1 Social cohesion and inequality). Of the remainder, 35 percent felt that they were clearly moving in the wrong direction and 44 percent felt that negative developments slightly outweighed positive changes.