More Dutch children get a good start in life than in 2007

Fewer children born in 2021 grew up in families with one or more risk factors in their first thousand days than children born in 2007, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) says in its Rapportage Integratie en Samenleven 2026 (Integration and Society Report). The first thousand days run from the year before birth to the child's second birthday.

CBS looked at four risk factors: low prosperity, a single-parent household, no paid work, and medication for parental mental health problems. Among children born in 2021, 73 percent of those with two Dutch-origin parents grew up in a family with none of these. The share is 62 percent for children with one Dutch-origin and one foreign-origin parent, and 40 percent for children with two foreign-origin parents.

Children with two foreign-origin parents gained most between 2007 and 2021

% of children with no risk factors, by year of birth

Children with two foreign-origin parents gained most between 2007 and 2021 (% of children with no risk factors, by year of birth). Highest: Two Dutch-origin parents, 71.5; lowest: Two foreign-origin parents, 29; 3 items. Source: CBS.

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Data: Children with two foreign-origin parents gained most between 2007 and 2021

Item	Born 2007	Born 2021
Two Dutch-origin parents	71.5	72.7
One Dutch, one foreign-origin parent	59.3	62.4
Two foreign-origin parents	29	40.2

The biggest improvement is among children with two foreign-origin parents: in 2007 only 29 percent grew up in a family without risk factors. The gaps with children of Dutch-origin parents have therefore narrowed, CBS says.

Several risk factors at once have become less common, but still occur more often among children with one or two foreign-origin parents.

The fall does not hold for the lowest prosperity group, where combined risk factors increased. Children in low-prosperity families with parents of Dutch, Indonesian or Iranian origin more often had a combination of risk factors in 2021 than in 2007. CBS says this is most clearly the case for Dutch-origin parents.