One in nine Dutch young people getting youth care help; Big increase among teen girls

Last year, 474,000 young people in the Netherlands received youth care, 10,000 more than in 2021. The increase is mainly due to more teenage girls needing help, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Tuesday. One in nine young people up to 23 received youth care last year. The majority were between 8 and 18 years old.

Last year, most kids in youth care received “care without accommodation”—they lived at home and received care and treatment by appointment, for example, therapy or group sessions. Last year, 447,000 young people received this form of youth care, 13,000 more than in 2021 and 94 percent of the total.

That increase was almost completely due to teen girls aged 12 to 18. Last year, 102,000 teen girls received this form of youth care, 10,000 more than in 2021 and amounting to one in six teen girls in the Netherlands. “In no other age group has the increase been so great,” CBS said.

Boys aged 8 to 12 receive youth care most often. Almost a quarter of boys in this age group get some form of youth care. “That share has been stable in recent years,” CBS said. Last year, it involved 83,000 boys.

The number of young people receiving care declined in all other types of youth care. Fewer young people received institutionalized youth care (-5 percent), there were fewer kids under supervision (-15 percent), and fewer young people were assigned guardians (-10 percent). There were also 4 percent fewer young people on youth probation in 2023 than in 2021, though this number increased by 2 percent compared to 2022.

There are significant differences between municipalities in the proportion of young people receiving youth care. That percentage is highest in Tiel and Veendam (15%) and lowest in Schiedam, Raalte, Maassluis, Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Staphors, and Vlieland (less than 6%).

CBS cited several reasons for this difference. Municipalities are responsible for organizing youth care, which can lead to differences in the amount and type of youth care available. “Socio-economic differences between regions can also play a role,” CBS said.