Social and Cultural Report 1998

The central theme of the Social and Cultural Report 1998 (Sociaal en Cultureel Rapport 1998) is 25 years of social change. The Report provides an overview of societal trends and describes the situation of the Dutch population and social and cultural policy over the last quarter of a century. The Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP, which itself marks its 25th anniversary this year, compiles this report every two years.

According to SCP, the social changes that have taken place can best be summarised as 'ongoing individualisation'. People increasingly shape their own lives and are becoming less dependent on others. There are more single-person households; more married women go out to work and families have become smaller.

Other striking developments are the rise of information technology, the emergence of a multi-ethnic society, the informalisation of social contacts and the struggle to maintain the welfare state. Typical problems in the last quarter of the twentieth century include urban poverty, long-term unemployment and rising crime rates.