Young people without basic qualification relatively often heard by the police

Young people without basic qualification are much more often heard by the police than those who have graduated from secondary vocational education level 2 (mbo-2) or higher. Unemployed school drop-outs in particular are relatively often heard by the police.

Young people without basic qualification three times as often heard by the police

Juvenile delinquency was reduced in recent years. School drop-outs are far less often heard by the police than several years ago, although the gap between young people with and without a basic qualification is still significant.

On an annual basis, approximately 3 percent of young people in the age category 15-27 no longer attending any form of education or training get into trouble with the police.  Among young people lacking a basic qualification, the proportion of those suspected of having committed an offence is approximately three times as high (5.3 percent) as among youths graduated with a basic qualification.

Crime suspects in the 15-27 age bracket no longer attending any form of education, by basic qualification, 2002-2010

More than one in ten unemployed school drop-outs are crime suspects

Young school drop-outs are more often unemployed than young people with a basic qualification. Within the group of unemployed young people without a basic qualification, the proportion heard by the police is again higher than within the total group of youths lacking a basic qualification. For example, 11.3 percent of unemployed school drop-outs were suspected of crimes by the police in the period 2008-2010 versus 1.5 percent of employed young people with a basic qualification.

Crime suspects in the 15-27 age bracket no longer attending any form of education, by basic qualification and unemployment, 2008-2010

Approximately 2,500 unemployed school drop-outs get into trouble with the police

Approximately 2,500 unemployed young people without a basic qualification were heard by the police in 2010. The number has risen marginally in recent years to 0.3 percent of the total group of young people in the Netherlands not attending any form of education. This figure is still relatively low.

Tanja Traag