The report states that Chinese children perform well in school because Chinese culture attaches great value to education. "Working hard and performing well are important for Chinese parents, and this clearly benefits the school performance of their children," the report reads.
It is remarkable to see how well the Chinese are doing in school, Gijsberts said. "This is an international trend, which is shown in studies in other countries as well. In the United States for example, Chinese children are also performing very well. Overly demanding parents can also lead to negative effects, but we have not investigated that," he stated.
Chinese migrants are doing well in the Dutch labor market. Although unemployment in the Chinese community is higher than among native Dutch people, it is lower than the four largest non-Western migrant groups.
Chinese people in the Netherlands have traditionally been employed in restaurants. That is still the case, because 43 percent of employees with a Chinese background are employed in the catering sector. However, this figure is lower than in the past.
Second generation Chinese in the Netherlands are steadily doing more skilled jobs, a trend which is likely to continue due to better education.
Compared with other migrant groups, first-generation Chinese have had some difficulties with the Dutch language, and seldom use it with family. However, while most second-generation Chinese communicate with their parents in their mother tongue, they also speak Dutch well. One out of five does not speak Chinese at all.
The socioeconomic success of second generation Chinese is connected with the norms of the Chinese culture, states the report. "An ethos of hard work, high ambition, the drive to perform well and the great value that is attached to good education and a strong work ethic. These are very important cultural factors for success," it said.
"This second generation can be seen as a model minority group," concludes the report.
