Socializing with visitors at home a diminishing habit

TILBURG – Visiting family and friends at their home is an activity on the decline in the Netherlands. In 1975, the average Dutch person spent 8,4 hours a week socializing with each other over a coffee or a beer. Thirty years later the practice had declined to 5,6 hours a week. Youths and the higher educated tend to socialize or hang out with each other in venues such as at restaurants, coffee shops, sports clubs and theatres rather than at home. The frequently heard lament that the Dutch volunteer less was borne out in the statistics as well. They just are less open to assuming responsibilities, also probably caused by the process of secularization. Researchers reject the notion that participation in society life increases leadership skills or interest in politics. They agree that the aged, singles and migrant workers make more contacts through volunteer work.