Conditionality of solidarity in the Netherlands: An analysis of three waves of the European Values Study

Since the introduction of the ‘solidarity items’ in the European Values Study in 1999 and their subsequent analyses, it is a well-known fact in the field of welfare attitudes research that people differentiate in their solidarity towards vulnerable groups in their societies. The EVS items show that in all European countries, people are more solidaristic with elderly people and with people who are sick and disabled, than with unemployed people; solidarity with migrants is weakest. Although this solidarity rank-order is evident, less is known about the degree to which people make a difference between vulnerable groups at all. People who make less of a difference between various groups are less conditional in their solidarity, than people who make stronger differences. This chapter focuses on analyzing the degree of Dutch people’s solidarity conditionality over time (across three waves of the EVS: 1999, 2008, 2017), and on understanding its socio-structural and cultural determinants. We find that, as expected, conditionality was
highest in 2008, corroborating the general idea that public solidarity is under strain in economically more critical time periods. Additionally, conditionality is higher among people who are more vulnerable economically, with less trust in society and its institutions, and with a more rightist political stance.