Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 85, Issue 4, 2010

The relationship between ethnicity and residential satisfaction. A study among Dutch, Surinamese, Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands .

Using data from the Netherlands Housing Survey 2006 (WoON) and neighborhood data from Statistics Netherlands, we investigate the relationship between individual ethnicity and ethnic neighborhood composition on the one hand, and satisfaction with the residential environment on the other, among the four largest ethnic categories in the Netherlands. We set three theoretical approaches next to each other and derive hypotheses from each. The class approach states that ethnic differences in residential satisfaction are caused by differences in socio-economic status. The race approach states that these differences are caused by discrimination. The culture approach states that there are cultural differences in residential preferences, leading to differences between ethnic groups in the way in which ethnic neighborhood composition affects residential satisfaction. We find that those of Dutch origin are the most satisfied with the neighborhood, and Turks and Moroccans the least. These differences in satisfaction largely disappear after controlling for socio-economic status. This result is in line with the class approach, and in contrast with the race approach. In line with the culture approach, the ethnic composition of the neighborhood plays a role in residential satisfaction. Native Dutch in particular seem to prefer living in residential environments with few non-western immigrants.

The men behind successful women: ‘Big shots’ or ‘sharing companions’? .

Using data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, this paper compares the partners of successful women with those of women who have fared less well on the labor market. Success is measured as belonging to the top ten percent income bracket of the female sample. The male breadwinner model where husbands contribute most to the household income characterizes the majority of couples, particularly in the older age groups. Successful women tend to have ‘sharing companions’ who make less money than they do rather than ‘big shots’ who have high incomes. Whether their partners espouse gender egalitarian attitudes makes no differences for women’s success. Rather, having a partner who performs a fair share of domestic tasks relates to women’s socio-economic achievement. Mothers with resident children are more successful when their partners have short work weeks, but the success of childless women and empty nest mothers shows no association with their partners’ work hours. With women’s increasing socio-economic independence, partner relations will likely become premised on different logics compared with the past. For economically autonomous women, men’s disposition towards companionship will be an important consideration, whereas men faced with economically autonomous women will be required to substantively contribute to domestic work.

Geographical homogamy of spouses married in the Netherlands in the period 1812-1922 .

People tend to choose a partner originating from their own region. However, in the course of time the geographical horizon widened. The mean geographical distance between the regions of origin of spouses in the Netherlands strongly increased during the nineteenth and twentieth century, particularly from the 1880s onwards. Also regional differences can be observed. This study aims at explaining the characteristics of the spatio-temporal changes in the geographical distance between the places of birth of spouses in the Netherlands in the period 1812-1922. By using spatio-temporal regression models both the effects of individual characteristics (like age and social class) and the regional socio-economic context can be explored.

Risk-handling on the shop floor: Bureaucracy and craftsmanship .

Two approaches towards safety culture can be distinguished, of which the dominant one focuses on risk handling based on bureaucracy and the other one on craftsmanship. Bureaucratic risk handling pertains to rules and procedures, formal training and education, and enforcement of rule compliance; craftsmanship to discretionary specialization, tacit knowledge and personal responsibility. The purpose of our study was to measure both risk handling strategies with a survey (N = 265) in a Dutch utility company. We show that bureaucratic risk handling can be measured as such, while discretionary specialization, tacit knowledge and personal responsibility can be measured as separate informal risk handling strategies, but can not be brought under the general heading of craftsmanship. Moreover, we demonstrate that while the perceived presence of bureaucratic risk handling decreases unsafe behavior, the perceived presence of the three dimensions of craftsmanship have mixed effects on unsafe behaviour. We conclude that we have succeeded in validating the measurement of bureaucratic risk handling and of the three dimensions of craftsmanship and, hence, that we have managed to bring the two strands of safety culture research together.