Dutch upbeat on economy, not unemployment

According to the Netherlands Institute for Social Research, (SCP), Dutch people are becoming more positive about the economy. In the newest poll, many people also say that they rarely notice improvement on the horizon in their own environment, and also have little faith in politics. About 73 percent of those polled believe that the economy will remain stable over the next year. This is better than the 45 percent who thought so last quarter, and 40 percent last year. There is little negativity, then, about the state of the economy. The state of their own surroundings, however, isn't fairing as well. Many people are worried that things aren't going well in their environment. Cuts, joblessness and high costs of living and health care are bringing people down. The SCP's Continuous Research Citizen Perspectives, which investigates the stance of the country every quarter, further confirms that confidence in politics in The Hague has stayed low over the last two quarters. Now, almost half (48 percent) of those questioned has enough confidence in the House of Parliament, and 44 percent has confidence in the government. People are worried that politicians are out of touch with how measures affect the average person. Topics such as health care, care for the elderly, income and economy, and employment should be high on the list of priorities for the government, the polled population believe. The researchers also looked into the public feeling about EU membership. Most people (40 percent) still believe this to be constructive. A quarter (24 percent) does not agree with the membership, and for 36 percent of the population it doesn't matter.