What the Heck is Going on in the Netherlands?
Have you ever had the feeling that your favorite childhood playground suddenly turned into a haunted house? That’s exactly how I felt when I moved back to the Netherlands in 2023. It’s like the Netherlands I remembered, the chill, organized place where everyone was super nice, decided to take a vacation and left chaos in its place.
First things first, let’s talk about crime. Yeah, you heard me, crime. That thing that barely existed in the Netherlands when I was living here from 2018 to 2020. It’s like someone flipped a switch, and now it’s on the rise. Last year, the number of crimes that got reported increased by about 7 percent compared to the previous year. That’s almost 797,000 criminal acts, up from about 743,000 in 2021. Yikes! And that’s not even the worst part. The crimes that really mess with people, like home burglaries, cases of assault, and street robberies, they’ve all gone up too [link 1].
And don’t get me started on cybercrime. It’s like everyone decided to turn into hackers or something. The number of cybercrime cases rose fivefold from 2018 to 2021. Fivefold! What happened to the chill, law-abiding people I remembered? [link 1].
Okay, let’s change gears for a moment — traffic violations. I don’t know what’s in the water here, but people have suddenly forgotten how to drive. In 2022 alone, there were over 8 million traffic violations. That’s 1.6% more than the previous year. And guess what most of these fines were for? Speeding. It’s like everyone’s in a hurry to get somewhere. Even the use of mobile phones on bicycles went up. Like seriously, who does that? [link 2].
I’m still researching why the cost of living has increased in the Netherlands recently. But so far, the picture is pretty clear. The Netherlands I returned to in 2023 is a far cry from the one I left in 2020. It’s like the country decided to morph into a rebellious teenager while I was gone. But hey, even teenagers grow up eventually, right? Let’s just hope the Netherlands decides to get its act together soon.
I’ll continue researching to complete the blog post about the cost of living and other changes. Stay tuned!
