Abstract

In the past three decades a profound secularization process has taken place in the Netherlands. This article assesses the impact of church affiliation and church participation on membership of voluntary associations and volunteering in this country. Using three national surveys (the Time budget study of 1995, the God in the Netherlands study of 1996/97 and several recent editions of the Cultural Change surveys of the SCP), first the differences between religious groups (non-church affiliated, members of the main Dutch denominations, nominal members and church going members) are explored. Next, the effect of church participation, as compared with the effects of other dimensions of religiosity, sex, age and education, is analysed. Some indicators of time-pressure and the average hours of television watching are analysed to test the separate effect of church participation. Finally, a social profile is given of groups in Dutch 'society who have a typically low, moderate of high level of volunteers. The authors conclude that the traditional role of church participation as a stimulus for social participation and social engagement is not a historical relict, and that the intensity of church participation is the factor with the strongest influence on especially volunteering.

How to Cite:

De Hart, J. & Dekker, P., (1999) “Kerkelijkheid en maatschappelijke participatie in Nederland”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 20(3-4), 367–393. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86480