Netherlands/ 8.2 Cultural consumption and participation  

8.2.1 Trends and figures

Research into participation in culture, media use and leisure pursuits have a long-standing tradition in the Netherlands. First studies in this area were carried out before the Second World War. Since the 1970s, large-scale periodical surveys have been conducted by the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) founded in 1973. One of its main tasks is to conduct scientific research into social and cultural trends The results show a clear correlation between cultural interests - especially interest in traditional culture - and education. All other things remaining equal, the better-educated show more interest than the less educated. The educational level of the Dutch population rose considerably since the 1970s. In 1975 only 8% of the population had completed either university or professional higher education (Hogeschool in Dutch, Hochschule in German). By 2000, this percentage had climbed to 22%. Given the much higher level of education among the Dutch population, one could expect a growing interest in traditional culture.

However, this expectation has not been met. Important reasons are diverging preferences of young and older people. In general people do not show an interest in traditional culture, e.g. classical music, opera or visual art, until later in life. The age at which people start to be interested in traditional culture has risen over the years: in 1995 the turning point - the age at which a person started visiting traditional forms of culture more than the average - was around 40; four years later it had shifted to 45 (SCR 2000, p. 502). Visitors only interested in traditional culture make up a mere fraction of the Dutch population. This exclusive interest is also largely confined to older people with secondary and higher education. Conversely, the proportion of the population interested exclusively in popular culture rose from one-fifth in 1983 to a quarter in 1999. Particularly striking is the strong interest in popular culture among young people with secondary and higher education.

The majority of the audience for culture consists of "omnivores" who have both traditional and popular forms of culture on their menu and alternate between them. The breakdown of the menu has changed, however. The most far-reaching changes have taken place among young people with secondary and higher education. The portion of traditional culture, which in 1983 was about the same as that of popular culture, has been halved by 1999. Older people with the same level of education had more popular forms of culture on their agenda in 1999 than in 1983. Traditional forms of culture predominate, however.

The supply of culture is concentrated (even more than is warranted by the population density) in the four major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. This pattern is strongest in the subsidised and non-subsidised performing arts, which are highly concentrated in the west of the country, particularly Amsterdam. People who live in the four major cities thus have far more opportunities to attend cultural events in their area than those who live elsewhere. In 1999, State Secretary Rick van der Ploegs' policy document Make Way for Cultural Diversity [Ruim baan voor culturele diversiteit] led to the Cultural Outreach Action Plan [Actieplan cultuurbereik] the aim of which is to involve more people in culture, especially newcomers such as immigrants and young people (see chapter 8.2.2). Dwindling interest of young people in traditional culture is one of the reasons for stimulating arts education in schools as well as for starting the Cultural Outreach Action Plan in 2000. Another reason is that ethnic minorities are underrepresented among visitors of cultural institutions: this is particularly true of Turks and Moroccans, to a lesser extent immigrant from the former Dutch colony of Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles which are still a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The plan defines culture in the broad sense, not just the performing arts or museums but also popular culture, e.g. pop music. In order to put the Action Plan into practice, the central government and the provinces and municipalities entered into agreements and put programmes in place for the 2001-2004 period. Because of the success of the incentive, State Secretary Medy van der Laan decided to continue the lifespan of the Cultural Outreach Action Plan for another 4 years, in a somewhat modernised form. The Cabinet has reserved an annual euros 13.7 million subsidy for its implementation, which is matched by the twelve provinces and thirty municipalities. Thus the regional and local authorities contribute to implementing special programmes to attract new audiences to arts and culture.

The results of participation surveys conducted in 2003 and 2007 are encouraging. The "ageing" of the audience of traditional culture seems to stop. There is a significant increase of museum visits within the youngest age group (12-17 years old) from 43% in 1999 to 58% in 2007. In this group the visits to performing arts also grew: from 19% in 1999 to 25% in 2007. The visits to the museums and performing arts of other age groups also increased, albeit slightly or at least remained on the same level.

The diminished interest for art programmes on radio and television is surely influenced by the rise of the Internet. The Internet not only makes it possible to listen and to watch art programmes broadcasted by radio and television at any time, but also offers a broad range of art programmes itself, even on popular websites, for instance "Your Tube".

The slight decrease in traditional artistic activities has been amply compensated by new artistic forms, such as "multimedia" (photo, video, computer, and internet). If these new forms are taken in account, no less than 78% of the Dutch population engages in an artistic activity. The Netherlands is one of top European countries, as far as these activities are concerned. The average percentage for the European Union is 63 (Andries van den Broek, Kunstbeoefening in de vrije tijd (in press)).

Table 6:     Trends in cultural consumption, in %, 1983 -2007 (index 1983=100)*

Source:      Source: Social and Cultural Planning Office (AVO).
*                 At least one visit during the last 12 months (Population 12 years and older).

The average amount of available leisure time had remained unchanged since 2000: about 45 hours a week. Almost 19 hours of this time is devoted to the media. Although the time for reading of printed media is diminishing since 1975; the decrease from 2000 to 2005 was very small: from 3.9 to 3.8 hours. The time for reading newspapers and magazines decreased, the time for reading books increased: from 0.9 hours to 1.3 hours.

The time spent on watching television dropped somewhat from 12.4 hours a week in 2000 to 10.8 hours a week in 2005. By contrast, the use of computer and the Internet doubled during that period. In 2005 the Dutch used the same amount of time for ICT as for the printed media. This increase will, without doubt, continue in the years to come. The increase in the use of ICT causes the decrease in watching television. This is especially true for young people Compared with 2000 the time spent by Dutch teenagers on the Internet increased tenfold. They are chatting most of that time (3.8 hours). Playing of games online is also popular (1.4 hours).

Table 7:     Media use: watching television (inc. video, and cable news), listening to the radio (inc. audio), reading, computer use (inc. Internet) as a main activity, population aged 12 and over, 1975-2005 (in percent, hours per week and index 2000, 2000 = 100)

Source:      Social and Cultural Planning  Office (TBO).

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