SCP

Women are less likely to retain a leading position if they are demoted to a lower position than men, social and cultural planning office SCP said in a new report. As a result, fewer women hold top positions than men, according to the planning office, ANP reports.

The number of Dutch people living in poverty decreased from 1.2 million in 2013 to almost 1 million in 2016, according to social and cultural planning office SCP. The SCP attributes the decline to the improvement of the Dutch economy after 2013, NOS reports.

The Rutte III government has too little regard for the thousands of vulnerable people in the Netherlands who do not receive the care that they need, the National Ombudsman, the Netherlands Court of Auditors and social and cultural planning office SCP said in a joint statement on Wednesday. The Tweede Kamer, lower house of Dutch parliament, is discussing the healthcare budget on Wednesday afternoon, NU.nl reports.

Dutch kids are still among the happiest in Europe and tend to have a good relationship with their parents, but more are experiencing pressure from their school work, according to a study by Utrecht University, the Trimbos institute and SCP. The researchers also found that the majority of 16-year-olds drink alcohol despite being underage, and that condom use is declining, NOS reports.

The average senior citizen, 55 years old or older, currently in the Netherlands is less lonely than his or her peers were 20 years ago. They have better social contacts, more often have a partner and their networks are often larger and more diverse, according to a study by social and cultural planning office SCP, NU.nl reports.

More than 40 percent of Syrian refugees in te Netherlands have psychological problems like depression and anxiety, according to a study by social and cultural planning office SCP. Despite these problems, they make little use of mental health care. The SCP spoke to 44 thousand Syrians who were given refugee status in the Netherlands between January 2014 and July 2016, ANP reports. 

For the first time since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, more people in the Netherlands are positive about the development of the country than are negative, according to a report by social and cultural planning office SCP. The Dutch are less worried about the economy and have more confidence in politics and the judiciary, RTL Nieuws reports.

People with disabilities or health problems in the Netherlands have a hard time finding work. Half of organizations do not want to hire people with disabilities or other health problems, according to a study among 3 thousand employers by social and cultural planning office SCP, BNR reports.

Half of the organizations indicated that they don't want to hire additional people with health restrictions. Two thirds said that they feel responsible for hiring people with disabilities or health problems, but only 11 percent actually intend to do so. 

One in seven residents of nursing homes in the Netherlands are very rarely or never able to leave the nursing home to go visit friends or family, and a quarter of the elderly people almost never go outside, according to a report by social and cultural planning office SCP. According to the report, these elderly people would like to get out of the nursing home every now and again, but can't because there's no one to help them or their health problems don't allow it, RTL Nieuws reports.

On an average day 21 percent of Dutch don't bother following the news at all and another 18 percent spend less than five minutes doing so, according to a study social and cultural planning office SCP released on Thursday. That amounts to 39 percent of Dutch barely knowing what's going on in the country and the world, ANP reports.

The SCP calls this a "troubling" trend. "A well informed population is important for the functioning of democracy", according to researcher Annemarie Wennekers.

The number of Dutch transgenders who changed their gender on their passport increased significantly following the implementation of the transgender law. Between 2007 and 2014 about 80 people per year changed their gender on their passport, according to figures from social and cultural planning office SCP. In 2015 there were 770 gender changes, NU.nl reports.