Neighborhood-Based Networks, Social Resources, and Labor Market Participation in Two Dutch Neighborhoods

Abstract

Numerous neighborhood effect studies have reported on the negative consequences of living in disadvantaged neighborhoods for various employment outcomes, such as the duration of welfare dependence and level of income. One hypothesis for explaining this relationship is the social isolation hypothesis, which assumes that low-income residents in disadvantaged neighborhoods are worse off than their counterparts in mixed neighborhoods because they rely on other disadvantaged neighbors to find work. These ideas are addressed by comparing survey data on social resources in the social networks of residents in a low-income neighborhood and a socioeconomically mixed neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague. Findings show that living in a low-income neighborhood influences labor market participation indirectly by limiting residents' access to job information. However, differences in access to job information cannot be explained by the high degree of neighborhood orientation in the social networks of residents in the low-income neighborhood.

Watch out for the neighborhood trap! A case study on parental perceptions of and strategies to counter risks for children in a disadvantaged neighborhood

“…Despite the substantial social problems in Transvaal-Noord, a recent survey indicates that the majority of social housing residents (79%) feel attached to the neighborhood and that the proportion of residents who want to move away is similar to adjacent middle-class areas (Pinkster 2009). An important reason for this is that a lot of residents have friends and family in the area and that they appreciate the neighborhoods' central location, good accessibility and the considerable number of ethnic shops and services in the area.…”

Inequality in Access to Social Capital in the Netherlands

“…a carpenter who knows another carpenter). Empirically, however, research shows that access to different occupations, and to high status jobs in particular, has a positive influence on people's occupational status and income (Behtoui, 2007;Chen, 2009;Cross and Lin, 2008;Lai, 2008;Li et al, 2008;Lin, 2001;Lin et al, 2009;Pinkster, 2009;Volker and Flap, 1999).…”

Neighbourhood Effects as Indirect Effects: Evidence from a Dutch Case Study on the Significance of Neighbourhood for Employment Trajectories

“…Note: Data in parentheses represent the average score for the Dutch population (N = 221) Sources: Gaag (2005) and Pinkster (2009) fellow residents provide a wide variety of informal support, including support in the personal or home domain, work-related support, support in dealing with (public) institutions and financial support. For example, fellow residents provide 71% of the support provided in the personal or home domain (see Table 3).…”