Trend Ageing, individualising and diversifying society straining cohesion

Summary

The report holds that social cohesion in the Netherlands is under pressure as society ages, individualises and becomes more diverse. As differences within society grow, cohesion can weaken and society can split into fragments. People find it harder to empathise with the lives of groups they do not know and rarely meet, so reactions towards others can become sharper, rougher and more polarised. At the same time, some people feel deep indignation that inequality has not yet been resolved in a country as wealthy as the Netherlands. The report adds that inequality keeps some people from participating fully in the labour market and in society, which harms both their well-being and national labour productivity.