Geert Driessen (2007) JET Trends in Religious Affiliation of Parents of

Trends in Religious Affiliation of Parents of
Primary School Children in the Netherlands in
The Period 1995-2005:
Exploration of Correlation with Sex, Ethnicity
and Socio-Economic Background*
Geert Driessen
Institute for Applied Social Sciences (ITS) of the Radboud University Nijmegen
g.driessen@its.ru.nl
Received 13 February 2007; accepted 1 May 2007
Abstract
The Netherlands is known for its high level of secularisation, a process which gained impetus in
the 1960s. At about the same time a huge influx of non-Western immigrants from diverse reli-
gious backgrounds got under way. Although immigrants now constitute more than 10 percent
of the Dutch population, there has been very little research into the relation between ethnicity
and religion. This article explores the relationship between religious affiliation and not just eth-
nicity but also sex and socio-economic background. Using data from six surveys conducted in
the national Primary Education cohort study (PRIMA), which provides information on some
120,000 parents of primary school pupils, developments in the period 1995-2005 were analysed.
The results of a number of descriptive analyses show a steady decline in religious affiliation and
an increase in the number of Muslims. They also point to strong contamination of the following
factors: Islamic, Turkish and Moroccan background, and socio-economic disadvantage.
Keywords
trends, church membership, secularisation, the Netherlands, ethnicity, Islam
1 Introduction
1.1 Newcomers
The Dutch used to be a religious people, but since the 1960s the picture has
changed dramatically. Whereas previously the vast majority of the population
* This article is based on data from the PRIMA cohort study. At the request of the Ministry
of Education PRIMA’s data collection was funded by the Dutch Organisation for Scientific
Research (NWO).
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/157092507X237354
Journal of Empirical Theology 20 (2007) 232-249 www.brill.nl/jet
Journal of
Empirical Theology
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G. Driessen / Journal of Empirical Theology 20 (2007) 232-249 233
were church members, secularisation and dechurching started gaining momen-
tum in the mid-1960s (Te Grotenhuis, Scheepers & Eisinga 1998). At the
same time massive immigration got under way as migrant workers poured into
the country from the Mediterranean basin (mainly Turks and Moroccans) and
the erstwhile colonies (Surinam, the Dutch Antilles), along with asylum seek-
ers and refugees from Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. At present
more than 10% of the Dutch population comprises non-Western foreigners.
This influx is accompanied by a large-scale emergence of non-Western reli-
gions like Islam and Hinduism.
Despite the scale of these developments, sociologists of religion have done
little research into the relation between religion and ethnicity. Most studies
focus on traditional Christian trends. This is surprising, not only in view of the
vast numbers of members of new religions (Islam, e.g., will have a million
adherents in the foreseeable future, making it the second largest religion in the
Netherlands),1
but also because of the differences between Western and non-
Western religions. Although secularisation has become a powerful force among
the native Dutch, foreigners remain very active religiously. In addition we are
looking at a distinct group: virtually all adherents of these religions are for-
eigners. The lack of interest on the part of sociology of religion is also remark-
able considering the enormous — negative — public interest in Islam over the
past five years (since 9/11). Major studies of “foreign” religions have only
started appearing quite recently (Becker & De Wit 2000; Phalet, Van Lotrin-
gen & Entzinger 2000; Phalet & Ter Wal 2004; Van Tubergen 2005, 2006).2
The rest of this article centres on the relation between church affiliation and
ethnicity. First we give a broad outline of church affiliation in the Netherlands,
followed by a résumé of some studies of foreigners’ religious affiliation. In view
of gaps in the information collected so far we formulate some research ques-
tions. To answer them we use broad national data on parents of primary school
children. Finally we present a few conclusions based on the research results.
1.2 Religious Affiliation
Hardly any information is available on the national distribution of church
membership in relation to ethnicity. Thus the reports on religious affiliation
and church attendance of the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) make no
1
CBS (2006b) estimates the number of Muslims in January 2004 at 944,000 or 5.8% of the
total population of the Netherlands.
2
In addition there have been other recent studies of the relation between ethnicity, religion
and education (Driessen & Van der Slik 2001) and of Muslim education (Driessen & Valken-
berg 2000).

234 G. Driessen / Journal of Empirical Theology 20 (2007) 232-249
mention of Muslims and Hindus. Below we first give an outline of national
distribution of religious affiliation and church attendance. As will be evident,
there are major discrepancies between sources depending on the measuring
method employed. These will be clarified. Then we summarise the findings of
some studies that deal more specifically with differences in religious affiliation
and church attendance between ethnic groups, especially Turks and Moroccans.
1.2.1 Affiliation
According to the CBS (2006a), in 1995 40% of the population over the age
of 18 had no church affiliation, 32% was Roman Catholic, 14% Dutch
Reformed (i.e. liberal Protestant), 7% Re-Reformed (i.e. orthodox Protestant)
and 8% belonged to some other denomination. By 2000 the only change was
a drop of 1 percentage point in the proportion of Catholics. In 2004 41% had
nochurchaffiliation,30%wasCatholic,3%Protestant,12%DutchReformed,
6% Re-Reformed and 8% other. These data derive from sample studies
and were collected by means of a (one-stage) question: “To what church or
worldview-related group do you belong?”, with “none” as one of the response
options. Data on Muslims and Hindus are estimates, hence not obtained
directly from respondents. According to the CBS (2006b) 4.1% of the popu-
lation in 1995 was Muslim and .5% was Hindu; in 2000 the percentages were
respectively 5.1 and .6%, and in 2004 5.8 and .6%.
Becker and De Wit (2000) produce very different statistics. In 1999, accord-
ing to them, 18% of the Dutch population was Roman Catholic, 8% Dutch
Reformed, 7% Re-Reformed and 4% belonged to some other denomination.
The percentage of non-churchgoers was 63%; 37% of the Dutch still consid-
ered themselves to be members of a denomination. Between 1980 and 1999
the proportion of non-churchgoers had risen by on average .7% per annum,
which correlated strongly with age: the percentage of non-churchgoers was
much higher among the younger generation. To determine the percentages
these scholars used a two-stage question. First they asked: “Do you belong to
a religious denomination?”, followed by, “Which one?”. The two-stage method
yielded more non-churchgoers than the one-stage approach. Frequency of
church attendance also dropped sharply. Whereas in 1980 50% of church
members still attended church once a fortnight, by 1998 the percentage had
decreased to 41%. The decline was particularly marked among Catholics — in
1998 it was down to 22%. Among foreigners the 1998 figures indicate that
95% of Turks, 97% of Moroccans and 9% of Surinamese were Muslims.
Becker and De Wit estimate that in 2010 67% of the population will belong
to no religious organisation, 13% will be Roman Catholic, 5% Dutch
Reformed, 4% Re-Reformed, 6% Muslim and 4% other. In that year 12% of

Catholics still will attend church at least once a fortnight, compared with 40%
of Dutch Reformed and 54% of Re-Reformed church members.
1.2.2 Religious Affiliation and Ethnicity
A few recent studies deal specifically with the extent of religious affiliation and
church attendance among different ethnic groups. A study of Rotterdam
youths in the 18-30 year age group in 1999 shows that 55% of native Dutch
respondents are nonreligious, as opposed to 1% of the Turks and 0% of the
Moroccans.3
In addition 40% of Dutch youths claim to experience their reli-
gion in an individualistic manner, compared with 73% of the Turks and 56%
of the Moroccans. Among Dutch youths 5% observe their religion’s rules, as
opposed to 26% of the Turks and 44% of the Moroccans. As for religious
practice — a combination of prayer and mosque attendance — 9% of the
Turks and 24% of the Moroccans observed the rules meticulously, respectively
27 and 17% do so largely, 14 and 19% to a fair extent, and 50 and 40%
minimally or not at all. Hence on average Moroccans are more religious than
Turks. Of the Dutch youths 4% report weekly church attendance (Phalet, Van
Lotringen & Entzinger 2000). Further analysis of these data, supplemented
with those of Turkish and Moroccan older generations (31-60 years), shows
that 38% of younger and 26% of older Turks never attend mosque at all; the
corresponding percentages for Moroccans are 42 and 29. Moroccan males are
more regular in their religious practice than Turkish males; the reverse applies
to women. Because of this gender effect there is no overall difference between
Turks and Moroccans. More detailed analyses show that when controlling
for gender and education there are no differences in participation between
foreigners and native Dutch. Hence the difference between the two groups
lies in self-definition rather than religious practice. Religious self-definition
among Moroccans declines per generation, whereas that of Turks remains con-
stant. Subjective experience of Islam appears to be intense, and this applies
to all generations when it comes to Islam as a source of personal meaning,
a cultural bond with the country of origin, and as a guideline for bringing
up children. Overall, then, one can say that most Turks are “moderate Mus-
lims”, with an individualistic and critical attitude towards religious tradition
and a modern interpretation of Islam. The Moroccans present a different pic-
ture: more than half are orthodox, while the rest have more open attitudes.
3
These percentages differ from those of Phalet and Güngör (2004), who used the same data.
According to this source 30% of native Dutch young adults claim to belong to a religious
denomination (10% Catholics, 7% Dutch Reformed, 4% Re-Reformed, 9% other); 98% of the
Turks and 99% of the Moroccans say the same.

That does not detract from the fact that the majority of Turks and Moroccans
regard Islam as a personal matter between the believer and Allah (Phalet &
Güngör 2004).
Analysis of data obtained in a survey conducted in major cities in 1998 and
2002 shows that among the Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean
ethnic groups religious affiliation, and especially religious practice, declines as
the level of education and fluency in Dutch rises. Religious practice increases
somewhat with immigration at a more advanced age and duration of resi-
dence, but since there is some factor contamination, independent influences
cannot be isolated. Participation in the labour market affects religious partici-
pation negatively, while ethnic concentration (proportion of immigrants in
neighbourhood) and familial homogeneity (both partners of the same origin)
correlate positively with frequency of participation. Phalet (2004) and Phalet
and Haker (2004) conclude that education and integration with Dutch soci-
ety are conducive to secularisation, whereas family and ethnic community
structures impede it. There is no evidence of a religious revival, but rather of a
more individualised experience of Islam.4
In an earlier study Becker, De Hart
and Mens (1997) investigated the relation between secularisation and Islam.
Although they concede the possibility of some liberalisation of Islam under
the influence of Dutch culture, they consider a substantial measure of apostasy
as a result of strong social control unlikely.
A comparative study conducted by Phalet (2004) in different countries
(Belgium, France, Germany, England) shows clear parallel trends among
different communities in various countries. Religious affiliation is remarkably
stable and, with the exception of England, only a minority participate in reli-
gious practices. The majority consider religion to be a private matter. Religious
participation declines mainly as a result of more education, social participa-
tion and social integration. An analysis by Van Tubergen (2005) of eight West-
ern countries largely confirms this picture: religious involvement declines with
higher educational levels and employment; by contrast married and older
people are more religious.
1.3 Gaps
Extensive data in which native Dutch and foreigners personally indicate their
religious affiliation are scanty and, where available, are the result of one-off
4
Although there is a slight difference between Turks and Moroccans, when one adjusts
for other characteristics the net effect is no longer significant. Religious participation of
women is lower than that of men, but this effect too is neutralised when one controls for other
characteristics.

surveys. The broad national cohort study of primary education of 1995-2005
collected data biennially on aspects like church affiliation and such back-
ground attributes as sex, ethnicity and socio-economic background. Each
measurement involved some 20,000 parents of primary school children, hence
120,000 people in all. This information not only permits a description of
current relations between ethnicity and religion, but may also reveal trends.
The present study seeks to fill some of the existing gaps. Key questions are the
following:
• What is the distribution of religious affiliation in the Netherlands?
• Is there any discernible trend in the period from 1995 to 2005?
• How does religious affiliation relate to sex, ethnicity and socio-economic
background?
This article is primarily descriptive. The analytical techniques used for the
purpose are cross-tabulation and variance analysis.
For the sake of clarity we should point out that the analysed data pertain to
parents of primary school children. Hence the sample does not comprise a
cross-section of the entire Dutch population: childless people are not repre-
sented, and the respondents are also comparatively young. This limits general-
isability, but because the data collected in the six surveys were obtained from
comparable samples, they do offer unique insight into developments in church
affiliation among this (specific) group.
2 Method
2.1 Samples
The data derive from the Primary Education cohort study (PRIMA). In this
project data were collected biennially in the period 1995-2005 from pupils in
grades 2, 4, 6 and 8, their parents, class teachers and school principals. Some
60,000 pupils at 600 primary schools were involved in this national project
(Driessen, Van Langen & Vierke 2006). The data from all six the PRIMA
surveys were used for this article. PRIMA drew a cluster sample of schools,
divided into a representative and a supplementary section. The former is rep-
resentative of all primary schools in the Netherlands. The supplementary
section comprises schools with an over-representation of students from socio-
ethnically disadvantaged situations. This sub-sample was included to permit
reliable appraisal of socio-ethnically disadvantaged minority groups. In our
analyses we made use of the entire sample.

2.2 Questionnaires
The information for the analyses derives from a written questionnaire com-
pleted by parents, providing data on their church membership and socio-
ethnic background. In 1995 the questionnaire was submitted to parents of
grade 4 pupils (8 year olds); in subsequent surveys it was completed by parents
of grade 2 pupils (6 year olds). The parents’ average age was about 36. The
response rate in all six surveys was around 75%. Despite the fact that each
questionnaire had a covering letter in Turkish and Arabic, a disproportionate
number of poorly educated foreigners did not respond. Elsewhere we have
pointed out that, as a result of the combination of over-representation of
parents from disadvantaged situations on the one hand and their under-
representation in terms of returned questionnaires, the ultimate (total) sample
tends to be representative after all, at least as regards parents’ socio-ethnic
background (Driessen & Doesborgh 2003). Each survey provides data on
roughly 10,000 men and 10,000 women, hence some 120,000 people in all
(Driessen & Haanstra 1996; Driessen et al. 1998; Driessen, Van Langen &
Vierke 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006).
2.3 Variables
The key characteristics are church membership, sex, ethnicity and socio-
economic background. This information is available for both parents in the
family.5
The characteristics were operationalised as follows:
• Church membership. Self-deﬁnition by means of a one-stage question: “Of
which church, religious community or worldview-related group do you
consider yourself a member?” (1) none (2) Roman Catholic (3) Dutch
Reformed (4) Re-Reformed (5) other Christian denomination (6) Islam
(7) other.
• Sex. (1) male (2) female.
• Ethnicity. Based on native country: (1) Dutch (2) Surinamese/Antillean
3) Turkish (4) Moroccan (5) other foreign country.
• Education. Highest qualiﬁcation: (1) at most lower education (2) lower
vocational education (3) lower general secondary education, 1-3 years higher
general secondary/pre-university education (4) intermediate vocational
education (5) 4-6 years higher general secondary/pre-university education
(6) higher vocational education (7) university.
5
Naturally only inasmuch as it concerns two-parent families.

• Employment. Remunerated employment 12 hours weekly or more: (0) unem-
ployed (1) employed.
3 Results
Below we present the results of the analyses made in order to answer the
research questions. We deal with each of the three angles of approach in turn:
relations between religious affiliation and sex, ethnicity and socio-economic
background. In each case we discuss the corresponding trends in religious
affiliation, and in the case of ethnicity and socio-economic background we
make a further distinction between the sexes.
3.1 Religious Affiliation and Sex
Table 1 summarises the distribution of respondents (parents of primary school
children) among the various categories of religious affiliation, differences
between males and females in this regard, and the development over the period
1995-2005.
The table shows that religiously unaffiliated people form the largest group
(about one third in 2005), followed by Catholics (about a quarter). Muslims
constitute almost a fifth of the sample. The rank order is identical for each year
of the study. To determine whether there were any developments over the years
we calculated eta coefficients for each category of church affiliation. These
turned out to be extremely low, from .02 for other denominations to .07 for
Catholics, with no differences between males and females. Although difference
in terms of eta is minimal in all instances, there are some substantial differences
in terms of percentage increase or decrease. Between 1995 and 2005 the num-
ber of religiously unaffiliated respondents increased by 5 percentage points, or
one sixth. The proportion of Catholics declined by 10 percentage points, that
is nearly 30%. The number of Re-Reformed church members likewise declined
by 25%. The most striking development is among Muslims: this group grew
by more than 40%. Thus the ten-year period saw an appreciable shift in church
affiliation.
If we look for possible differences between the sexes in each survey year, we
observe that there are consistently more males than females who claim to have
no religious affiliation. The disparity varies from 1.5 to 3 percentage points.
On the other hand more women than men are Roman Catholic, Dutch
Reformed or members of another denomination. Among Re-Reformed church
members there are few if any differences. The same applies to Muslims,
although here the relative proportion of males is consistently a trifle higher

Table1:Developmentofreligiousafﬁliationfrom1995to2005,accordingtosex6
(in%)
199519971999200120032005
Churchmfmfmfmfmfmf
None30.028.432.530.231.128.533.330.833.530.635.332.3
RC34.235.531.832.630.331.429.931.326.728.323.725.7
DR11.011.28.59.28.99.49.29.89.510.28.99.4
RR7.06.84.94.95.35.34.34.55.35.55.25.3
Chr2.42.84.45.04.15.04.44.84.95.56.67.1
Isl12.411.814.814.717.316.916.215.917.917.617.817.1
Other3.03.43.23.43.13.52.73.02.12.42.63.1
(n=100%)9449101421070211562997610772103241080110430109181004410566
6
Diﬀerences in number of males and females are a result of using samples of parents, with the
single-parent category including more mothers than fathers.

than that of females. In the — heterogeneously constituted — group of other
denominations there are also consistently more women than men.
Table 2 shows the figures for 1995 and 2005 as regards different church
membership between males and females within the same household.
Let us briefly comment on the percentages in the table. The 1995 figure of
24.1 indicates that in that year 24.1% of both males and females in the total
sample of 9362 families were not religiously affiliated; the figure 3.4 means
that in that same year 3.4% of the men were unaffiliated, whereas their wives
were Roman Catholics. In 1995 a total of 85% of families were homogeneous
in regard to religious affiliation; hence 15% of households are mixed in this
respect. The situation in 2005 is not all that different: in that year 83% of
households were religiously homogeneous. The percentages of religiously
homogeneous family for the intervening years are as follows: 1997, 85%;
1999, 85.2%; 2001, 84.4%; and 2003, 83.7%. Hence there is a slight down-
ward trend in religiously homogeneous families.
Table 1 already indicated that more males than females are religiously
unaffiliated; table 2 shows that this is largely attributable to the Roman Cath-
olic category: in 2005 4% of the men had no religious affiliation, whereas
their wives are Catholics. That is more or less double the converse statistic for
this combination: 2.1% of women are Catholics, whereas their husbands are
unaffiliated. For that year, therefore, there was a total of roughly 6%
unaffiliated/Catholic combinations, over one third of the total of religiously
mixed families. A remarkably small number of mixed families have one Mus-
lim partner: among the combinations there are hardly any Muslims who are
married to non-Muslims.
3.2 Religious Affiliation and Ethnicity
Table 3 gives the correlations between religious affiliation and ethnicity of
males for 1995 and 2005. The data are tabled both vertically and horizontally.
This allows us to check not only which churches the various ethnic groups attend,
but also from which ethnic groups the churches recruit their membership.
The left panel of the table shows that in 2005 44% of Dutch males were
religiously unaffiliated; the corresponding percentage for Turks and Moroc-
cans is less than 1%. Of the Turks and Moroccans 97% are Muslims. The right
panel shows that the unaffiliated, Dutch Reformed and Re-Reformed catego-
ries are almost exclusively Dutch, whereas — not surprisingly — the Islamic
category is predominantly Turkish and Moroccan. In addition to these analy-
ses of data for men, we made parallel analyses of those for women. These
yielded by and large comparable correlations. In comparison with 1995 the
2005 figures show noticeable discrepancies among the Dutch, with a marked

Table2:Religiouslyhomogeneousandmixedfamiliesin1995and2005,accordingtosex(in%)
ChurchChurchfemale1995Churchfemale2005
maleNoneRCDRRRChrIslOtherNoneRCDRRRChrIslOther
1995,2005
None24.13.41.4.5.3.1.328.34.01.4.6.5.1.3
RC2.330.01.4.2.1.0.12.119.21.4.5.3.0.1
DR.81.68.4.2.1.0.0.71.56.3.2.0.0.1
RR.3.3.26.1.0.0.0.4.4.44.0.0.0–
Chr.1.1.0.02.1.0.0.2.3.1.05.8.0.0
Isl.3.1.0.0.011.8.0.3.2.0.0.117.1.0
Other.2.2.1–.0.02.5.1.1.0.0.0.02.3
(n=100%)936210019

Table3:Religiousaffiliationandethnicity(males,1995and2005;in%)
1995ReligiousaffiliationaccordingtoethnicityEthnicityaccordingtoreligiousaffiliation
ChurchDutchS/ATrkMarOtherDutchS/ATrkMarOther(n=100%)
None34.89.31.1.725.997.1.8.2.11.82725
RC39.421.9.6–41.195.81.7.1–2.43127
DR13.43.0–.21.199.0.7–.1.21026
RR8.5.4––2.299.2.2––.6652
Chr2.27.6.4–4.385.69.21.0–4.1195
Isl.315.296.199.111.92.23.450.042.22.11047
Other1.442.61.8–13.543.841.74.1–10.3242
(n=100%)7601237545446185
2005ReligiousaffiliationaccordingtoethnicityEthnicityaccordingtoreligiousaffiliation
ChurchDutchS/ATrkMarOtherDutchS/ATrkMarOther(n=100%)
None44.015.3.8.620.094.21.1.2.14.43529
RC28.927.6.1–14.392.33.0.0–4.62372
DR11.53.1––1.897.5.9––1.6893
RR6.8–––1.298.3-––1.7520
Chr6.79.61.62.212.777.43.81.82.114.9658
Isl1.011.196.896.938.54.51.741.035.816.91747
Other1.033.3.7.311.430.033.51.9.833.8260
(n=100%)7562261741646769

increase in religiously unaffiliated respondents and a decline in the proportion
of Catholics; the other ethnicity category also grew substantially, thus swelling
the Muslim component.
3.3 Religious Affiliation and Background
Table 4 gives the correlations between religious affiliation and one of the indi-
cators of socio-economic background, namely education. These take the form
of percentages and means for males in 2005.
Table 4: Religious affiliation according to education (males, 2005; in % and
means)
Education
Church LE LVE LGSE IVE HGSE/
PUE
HVE UE mean
None 8.2 15.2 9.0 32.2 6.7 18.8 9.8 4.1
RC 6.2 16.9 7.8 36.4 4.9 20.4 7.3 4.1
DR 4.4 19.2 7.2 38.5 4.5 18.7 7.6 4.1
RR 4.0 15.4 6.5 39.6 2.9 21.2 10.4 4.3
Chr 8.0 18.3 8.6 30.6 5.8 20.8 7.8 4.0
Isl 35.1 18.3 11.1 13.1 7.7 8.8 5.9 2.9
Other 23.5 16.5 11.2 24.2 6.2 9.2 9.2 3.4
eta .25
The educational disparities between the various categories of religious affiliation
are striking. Naturally they relate closely to ethnic background. In the Muslim
group more than half the men have at most a lower vocational education
qualification; this can be attributed to the fact that they are mostly poorly
educated Turks and Moroccans. In the other affiliation category, too, the edu-
cational level is fairly low, partly because this category comprises many poorly
qualified Surinamese and Antilleans — among Surinamese mainly Hindus.
Among the religiously unaffiliated and adherents of Western religions, as is
evident from the mean educational levels in the last column, there are few if any
differences. The educational level of Re-Reformed males is conspicuously high.
Table 4 reflects the situation of males in 2005. Table 5 indicates whether
educational levels rose over the years and whether there are differences in this
regard between the categories of religious affiliation and between men and women.
The table gives the means and linear correlations (Pearson r) for each category.

Table5:Developmenteducationallevel1994-2005,accordingtoreligiousafﬁliationandsex(means)
EducationmaleEducationfemale
Church199519971999200120032005r199519971999200120032005r
None3.83.84.04.14.14.1.083.43.53.73.83.94.0.13
RC3.53.73.83.93.94.1.103.23.43.63.73.83.9.14
DR3.63.73.93.94.04.1.103.33.53.83.93.94.0.15
RR4.14.04.24.54.34.3.053.83.84.04.34.24.3.13
Chr4.03.94.04.04.14.0.033.73.63.83.83.93.8.03
Isl2.02.72.82.82.92.9.101.72.22.22.12.32.4.08
Other3.43.63.73.53.63.4−.013.23.33.43.13.23.1−.04

With the exception of the other denominations category the table shows that
the educational levels of both men and women rose over the years. To a large
extent women appear to have caught up with men. But the levels of Muslim
men and women remain very low: although they have risen since the first
survey in 1995, there has been very little change.
Table 6 sums up the relation between religious affiliation and a second indi-
cator of socio-economic background — employment — for 1995 and 2005.
It shows the percentages of men and women in paid jobs.
Table 6: Employment according to religious affiliation and sex (1995 and
2005; in %)
1995 2005
Church m f m f
None 88.4 33.6 89.6 54.8
RC 87.8 30.2 87.3 52.6
DR 92.4 24.3 92.2 50.3
RR 94.0 22.2 94.8 46.3
Chr 81.8 24.3 84.1 23.9
Isl 41.2 14.1 55.8 17.4
Other 58.5 26.7 71.7 39.8
eta .34 .12 .34 .29
There are major differences in employment between the various categories of
religious affiliation. Conspicuously low are the figures for Muslims, even lower
for women than for men. Another low figure is that of employed women in
the other Christian denomination category. Between 1995 and 2000 the pro-
portion of working women increased dramatically, albeit not in the case of
Muslim women and those belonging to other Christian denominations.
4 Conclusions
On the basis of a series of large-scale, national surveys and self-definitions this
article describes the distribution of religious affiliation among parents of pri-
mary school children in the Netherlands in the 1995-2005 period. The largest
group comprises the religiously unaffiliated, followed by Catholics and Mus-
lims. Compared with 1995, 2005 figures show a substantial increase in the
proportion of Muslims, an increased proportion of religiously unaffiliated

people, and a decreased proportion of Catholics. More men than women are
religiously unaffiliated; on the other hand more women are Catholics, Re-
Reformed or members of some other Christian denomination. Among the
families 85% are religiously homogeneous; 15% are mixed, predominantly a
combination of Catholic and religiously unaffiliated. As much as 40% of the
Dutch are unaffiliated, while virtually all Turks and Moroccans are Muslims.
By and large Muslims have low educational qualifications; among religiously
unaffiliated people and members of Western religions there is hardly any
difference in educational level. Over the years women have largely caught up
on their educational backlog, although this does not apply to Muslim women:
they still lag behind their male counterparts. Muslims also have a low employ-
ment rate, women again lagging behind men. Over the past decade female
employment has increased enormously, but not among Muslim women and
those from the other Christian denomination category. Clearly the unfavour-
able position of Muslims is attributable to the fact that this category largely
comprises migrant workers and their descendants.
Against this background we make a few comments. In the first place it
should be noted that the data derive from parents of young children. It could
be that childless and older people differ from the research sample in regard to
religious affiliation (cf. Phalet & Güngör 2004). Phalet’s study (2004), for
example, shows that Turkish and Moroccan couples with children attend
mosque more regularly than childless couples and single people. The second
comment concerns the questioning procedure — the one- and two-stage
approaches yield very different results (cf. CBS 2006 and the findings repro-
duced above with Becker & De Wit 2000). The question is which approach
produces the most valid results. Thirdly, there is the position of Muslims. Islam
is not a denomination in the Western sense of the word, in that it has no rigid,
centralised organisation and registered membership. As a rule anybody who is
born a Muslim is included among Muslims. Openly stating that one does not
consider oneself to be a Muslim any more is rare, since it incurs (sometimes
severe) sanctions. Hence concepts like “church membership” and “secularisa-
tion” are awkward when it comes to Islam (Becker & De Wit 2000; Phalet
2004). In addition Islam has many variations; in fact, the term “Muslim”
is an umbrella concept, comprising all sorts of gradations in strictness
of religious observance. From a Western perspective this makes it difficult
to come to grips with the subject matter. A further problem is the unequal
position of women, which is fundamentally different from that of men —
certainly as regards mosque attendance. Hence when it comes to Islam we
must question the reliability of analyses entailing the characteristic “sex” (cf.
Dekker & Keuzenkamp 2006). A fourth point is the intertwinement of Islam,

Turkish and Moroccan descent and socio-economic disadvantagement: to
a great extent it is a one to one relationship. A final comment: this article
approaches religiosity from an “institutionalised” point of view: it centres
on whether respondents consider themselves to be adherents of a particular
religion or not. In view of the increasing individualisation of religious
experience — certainly among the young and even more so among Turks
and Moroccans than among native Dutch people (Phalet, Van Lotringen &
Entzinger 2000) — one must question the appropriateness of this operation-
alisation. Hence we would recommend that future research should use some
sort of individual definition of religiosity. In view of the findings of De Graaf
and Te Grotenhuis (2005), however, one should be wary of unduly high
expectations. They maintain that there is no question of a shift from institu-
tionalised religion to personal religiosity: both forms of religious experience
have unmistakably declined in recent times.
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