Migrants more likely to be jobless and living in poverty
(update)
Tuesday 11 March 2014
The unemployment rate among Dutch people with an ethnic
minority background is more than triple that of the white Dutch, according to a
new report by the government’s socio-cultural think tank SCP.
Hardest hit are youngsters of Moroccan origin who left
school without any qualifications – more than half of them are without a job.
People with a minority background are more likely to be
out of work than the native Dutch even if they have the same qualifications,
the SCP report shows. This is probably due to preconceptions on the part of
employers, the SCP says.
Qualifications
For example, 20% of ‘non-western’ youngsters with a trade
school qualification are out of work, compared with 5% of the white Dutch.
Two-thirds of those with a job are on a flexible contact.
People who moved to the Netherlands as refugees are most
likely to live on welfare benefits (bijstand). Half of Somali refugees, for
example, claim welfare.
One in seven adults and one in four children with a
‘non-western’ background live in poverty, the report says.
Social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher said later on
Tuesday the picture painted by the report is 'dramatic'.
Too many minority youths are still leaving school without
qualifications and too many companies are discriminating when taking on staff,
Nos television quoted the minister as saying.
Asscher promised to soon publish a 'tough package of
measures' to tackle discrimination at work, especially during the recruitment
process.
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