Social Indicators and Living Conditions in the Netherlands

The Dutch Social en Cultural Planning Office(SCP) monitors social changes and socialservices, evaluates social policies, givesinformation about expected developments in thefuture and gives recommendations for furtherpolicy. Key issues are the assessment ofeconomic, demographic and social changes andthe influence of these factors on the socialand living conditions of the population. TheSCP uses social and economic indicators toexamine these developments. Besidesresearching specific themes (such as socialexclusion, the consequences of long-termunemployment, the social position of theelderly and use, costs and productivity ofsocial services) the SCP has developed anoverall monitoring tool for the livingconditions: the living conditions index (LCI).Nowadays the index is composed of indicatorswhich reflect conditions in eight areas:housing, health, consumer durables, leisureactivity, sport activity, socialparticipation, mobility and holiday. In thefuture, the SCP will attempt to develop aconceptual model that will link the livingconditions index to other social indices likelivability (housing and level of services),poverty and socioeconomic deprivation.