From 1989 to 1998, the Netherlands was the second-most common European destination for Somali asylum-seekers, only slightly behind the United Kingdom and more than double the total of the next-most common destination, Denmark. However, between 2000 and 2005, there was a significant outflow of Somalis from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom, unofficially estimated to be as large as 20,000 people. Factors mentioned as driving forces behind the exodus included an increase in opposition to Muslim immigration, as exemplified by the rise of Pim Fortuyn, Somali opposition to housing policies which forced them to live scattered in small groups all over various cities rather than in a larger agglomerated community, a restrictive socio-economic environment which, among other things, made it difficult for new arrivals to find work, and the comparative ease of starting a business and acquiring the means to get offsocial welfare in the UK.
6,517 persons of second-generation background, of which:
*543 persons with one parent born in the Netherlands
*5,974 persons with both parents born out of the Netherlands
For a total of 21,798 persons. This represented roughly 9% growth over the 1996 total of 20,060 persons; the composition of the population had changed slightly, with the proportion of the population of second-generation background more than doubling over that time frame. The proportion of men has typically been greater than that of women. Most men are single without dependents, while most women are single mothers with one or more children. This is largely due to being only able to send certain family members to a different country.
In 2005 according to the Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureauannual report, Somalis are among the least educated and least integrated immigrants groups to the Netherlands together with Turks and Moroccans. Somali pupils have the lowest participation level in secondary education of all immigrant groups to the Netherlands, with less than 1 in 5. In 2012, Somalis had the by far highest unemployment rate at 37% of the labour force and 26% of the labour force was in work, counted as at least twelve hours per week. In 2015 more than half of all individuals with Somali background in the Netherlands received social welfare.
