Mapping Dutch Inequality

Here are some essential tips which can help you succeed in life - if you are Dutch. First off make sure you have rich parents. In the Netherlands you are five times more likely to get a university degree if your parents are in the top 25% of wage earners. 

To succeed in life you should also make sure you are born male. Throughout the Netherlands women tend to earn less than men. For example in Urk women from low-income families earn on average €16,000, while men of a similar background earn on average €55,000. If you can then make sure that you are born to someone who was themselves born in the Netherlands. Children of migrant parents in the Netherlands on average have significantly worse educational and economic outcomes than children whose parents were born in the Netherlands.

Erasmus University's Kansenkaart is an interactive map which reveals the shocking levels of inequality of outcomes in the Netherlands. The map visualizes the disparities in outcomes for children born in different locations in the Netherlands and in different circumstances. The map allows users to explore the effect of gender, ethnicity, and family income on a child's economic and educational outcomes, wherever they were born in the country.

As well as revealing some of the class and racial inequalities in the Netherlands the map also reveals some of the geographical inequalities of outcome faced by Dutch children. For example, children of low-income families who grow up in a big city (particularly in the north of the country) on average have lower educational and economic outcomes than children of low-income children who are raised in the countryside. 

The Erasmus University map was partly inspired by Harvard University's Opportunity Atlas, which is now being used by the Biden government to help address inequality of outcomes in the United States.