Neighbourhood effects on youth educational achievement in the Netherlands: can effects be identified and do they vary by student background characteristics?

Adding to the growing body of research examining neighbourhood effects in European contexts, this study investigates the associations between the educational achievement of Dutch youth and their neighbourhood conditions. We further consider whether these associations vary by student socioeconomic status (SES), gender, or nativity. Results from a multilevel analysis of 17 836 secondary school students living in 3085 neighbourhoods indicate significant relationships between several dimensions of the neighbourhood context and educational achievement. Student SES and nativity appear to moderate some of these effects. In particular, we find the negative effect of neighbourhood disadvantage to be almost entirely restricted to native youth. The achievement outcomes of students with higher levels of SES also appear to be less affected by neighbourhood affluence and disadvantage than those of lower-SES students. Our results suggest that the impact of neighbourhood conditions on certain groups of youth may be obscured in studies that measure average neighbourhood effects across all individuals. Future research which examines neighbourhood effects and mechanisms across subgroups of youth, and which examines the links between the neighbourhood, family, and school contexts, can help us to better determine the neighbourhood’s role in youth education.