Rabat – The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) conducted the study using data collected by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and published in Statistics Netherlands’ Annual Report on Integration 2018. The study also includes Dutch people of Turkish background.
The study compares “first generation” Dutch people of Moroccan descent born in the 1980 to the “second generation” immigrants born in the 1990.
One contrast between the two generations is that men and women in the older generation got married at a younger age, generally in their early 20s, whereas those born 10 years later are less likely to marry as young.
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The same applies for Turkish-Dutch people, as 31 percent of the first generation were married at 21. Among men and women of Turkish descent born in 1990, only 9 percent consider marrying young.
The report noted a decline from 39 to 30 percent in the rate of Moroccans who married young.
“Among 26-year-olds as well, the share of married people is still relatively low in the younger birth cohorts. A decline is seen among the Turkish second generation (from 55 to 38 percent) as well as the Moroccan second generation (from 39 to 30 percent),” stated CBS.
Children are a “no” for the 1990 generation
Unlike their parents, Dutch-Moroccan young adults are less and less inclined towards marrying and having children at a young age. The same applies to their Dutch-Turkish peers.
The report stated: “The share of 21-year-old mothers with native Dutch, Turkish or Moroccan background is significantly smaller among the cohort born in 1990 compared to those born in 1980.”
Only 5 percent of Moroccan and Turkish women born in 1990 were already mothers at 21.
Among Moroccan women born in 1980, 12 percent were married and had children at 21 while 16 percent of their Turkish peers had children at the same age.
Second-generation Dutch people of Moroccan descent are more likely to marry someone from their same age group and from the Netherlands.
The report notes that among second-generation Dutch-Moroccans married at 26, fewer had married Moroccans. The share of younger Dutch-Moroccans who married someone from Morocco declined from 70 to 29 percent compared to first-generation immigrants.
