'Affordability of healthcare' must once again become the most important topic of the year

Just like in 2019, 'affordability of care' should become the most important issue of this year if the Netherlands has its way. And just like last year, 'violence on the street' and 'quality of care' are in the top three. This is evident from the Issues to Watch 2020 research by De Issuemakers, conducted in collaboration with Kantar. The Dutch population was asked which subject should be the most important issue of 2020.

In addition to attention for healthcare, it is striking that issues surrounding antisocial behavior are very much alive. Violence on the street, violence against aid workers, lack of tolerance and hardening of society all appear in the top 6. The biggest difference with last year: the future of Europe has fallen from a place in the top 4 to now outside the top 30. Presumably because the clarity that now exists about Brexit and because the European elections are now behind us. In addition, 'plastic soup' is mentioned noticeably less than last year.

Newcomers for 2020 are topics that have received plenty of media attention in recent months, such as the teacher shortage, global warming, nitrogen and immigration. “It will be interesting to see how political parties, with elections awaiting us in March 2020, will pay attention to these topics in their party programmes,” says Mayke van Keep, partner at communications agency De Issuemakers.

Differences between region and age
The Netherlands is unanimous about the importance of healthcare, but regional differences are also observable. In the north (Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe), an aging population and the tightening of criminal law are mentioned as the top 5 issues, in contrast to the rest of the Netherlands. It is also striking that 'global warming' only appears in the top 5 in the Randstad and the East region (Overijssel, Gelderland, Flevoland) and other topics are given preference in North and South.

We also see differences between generations. The teacher shortage is considered important by 18-34 year olds and those over 70, but it is not reflected in the top 5 of the intermediate group. Immigration is only mentioned as a top 5 topic by 18-34 year olds.

Not significant?
Also interesting is the bottom of the list. The topics of extortionate policies, the beauty ideal for women and young people, mixed marriages, increasing tourism and the role and direction of public broadcasting receive -sometimes surprisingly- hardly any votes. Each topic has been regularly discussed in newspapers and talk shows, but for the general public they are topics of lower urgency.

About the research
Issues-to-Watch 2020 is based on a survey among 852 respondents, who are representative of the Dutch population aged 18 and older. A total of 135 issues were presented to respondents, where they could select a maximum of ten topics that they felt should receive more attention in 2020. This is the second year that the survey has been conducted.