People with two Dutch parents becoming a minority in Amsterdam; study

People without a migrant background are increasingly becoming a minority in many Amsterdam neighborhoods and are not integrating sufficiently, according to a study reported by Trouw on Thursday.

Maurice Crul, a professor of education and diversity at the VU, along with social worker Frans Lelie, conducted interviews with over 3,000 residents without an immigrant background in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Malmö, Hamburg, and Vienna. They discovered an increasing number of people residing in ethnically diverse neighborhoods where everyone, including those without migrant backgrounds, now belongs to a minority group.

The researchers highlighted that in Amsterdam, only a third of people under the age of 15 currently have both parents born in the Netherlands. Furthermore, in 40 percent of Amsterdam's neighborhoods, individuals without a migration background are now in the minority. The researchers highlighted that their study refers to people without a migration background as individuals whose both parents were born in the Netherlands. This means that the group surveyed also includes people with a third-generation migration background.

According to the researchers, most of those surveyed appreciate the cultural diversity in their neighborhoods yet seldom interact with residents of immigrant backgrounds. When asked whether they feel integrated into their own neighborhoods, the answer is largely negative.

The reasons behind this lack of integration are not clear-cut, but the researchers gathered several insights. Some respondents said they felt that residents with a migration background are either not interested in interacting with them or they themselves fear doing or saying something wrong when interacting with them. The study also found that people without a migration background often expect those with an immigrant background to initiate contact.

Some respondents admitted that their lack of exposure to multiculturalism while growing up probably plays a role in this lack of integration. "They have something to catch up on," the researchers wrote.

Crul emphasized that residents should make more effort to interact with each other. This not only improves the quality of life in the neighborhood but also aids integration. However, this cannot happen without effort. "People must take the initiative to form these connections themselves," Crul pointed out. Sometimes, this integration can occur more organically, for instance, when parents enroll their children in mixed schools, the researchers explained.

Crul argued that it is time to adopt a new perspective on integration. He believes that the traditional approach, which primarily focuses on people with a migration background, is no longer suitable. "Those without a migration background must also participate in this process. It has to come from both sides so that people with a migrant background can also have a voice in defining what integration should look like," he concluded.