The 'bankruptcies of hospitals' is the most important issue of 2018. More than 41.4% of Dutch people indicate that they were most concerned about this in 2018. This issue is closely followed by the increasing tensions between population groups (40.5%) and plastic in oceans (32.2%).
This is evident from research into the issues that Dutch people found most important in 2018. This research was conducted by Kantar Public and De Issuemakers will be repeated on an annual basis from this year onwards at the end of the year.
Top 10 most important issues 2018
1. Hospital bankruptcies (41.4%)
2. Rising tensions between population groups (40.5%)
3. Plastic in oceans (32.2%)
4. The discussion surrounding Zwarte Piet/Soot Wipe Pete (29.5%)
5. Concern about the disappearance of Dutch identity (26%)
6. Increasing number of depressed young people (18.9%)
7. The Brexit (18%)
8. Dumping of drug waste (15%)
9. Decreasing vaccination rate (14.8%)
10. Increase in house prices (14.2%)
Remarkably, the Dutch appear to be hardly concerned about the increase in the number of tourists coming to the Netherlands. The legalization of soft drugs and the expansion of Schiphol are also hardly seen as important issues.
Differences
The issue of 'privacy' is considered important by more young people (18-34 years) than older people. The importance decreases as age increases. The same applies to the issue of 'rising house prices'. Older people, on the other hand (54+, but especially 70+), consider it a very important issue that people are concerned that the Dutch identity is disappearing (42.3%).
About the research
This research was conducted by Kantar Public in collaboration with De Issuemakers. The research is based on 1025 respondents, who are representative of the Dutch population aged 18 and older. The respondents were presented with a list of topics that have been in the news and were able to select from this list what they considered to be the most important topics of 2018.
