Issue Place-based resentment despite small regional inequality

Summary

The report rates regional inequality in the Netherlands as very limited. Municipalities differ in many respects, but gaps between regions mostly remain small. Even so, a place-bound resentment is at work in border regions and in provinces such as Groningen, Zeeland and Drenthe. Residents there feel that they do not count in national politics in The Hague. Income gaps are also common within wealthier areas, large cities and student towns. The report points out that this sense of neglect exists regardless of the size of material gaps, while holding that social class matters more than place of residence in shaping opportunities.