de uitdagingen van kind zijn
Growing Up in a Rapidly Changing World
Children have a right to a safe childhood where they can play, learn, and dream. Yet, the development of many children is under pressure. We saw this continue to grow in 2025. Problems such as mental stress, poverty, and insecurity at home significantly impact their daily lives. For children growing up in vulnerable situations, these challenges are often even greater.
We cannot eliminate these problems, but we can help children to be more resilient when they face adversity. That is why we are committed to strengthening children's resilience.
Key themes we focus on are mental health, safety, loneliness, and poverty. Together with our partners, we create places where children feel safe and seen, where they experience support, and where they can develop skills that help them cope with difficult situations.
schokkende cijfers
The situation of children in the Netherlands
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children grow up in an unsafe home situation
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% of children in Year 8 have mental health problems
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children grow up below the poverty line
1 in every0
Children often feel lonely, if not always.
Growing up safely
No child should grow up in an unsafe environment. And yet, in the Netherlands, behind more than 100,000 front doors, children are growing up in unsafe home situations. They experience physical violence, emotional abuse, and neglect. To the outside world, everything sometimes seems normal. These children are often afraid to speak up. And they feel misunderstood or unsupported in their environment.
For a child, this has major consequences. Fear and stress replace trust. An unsafe home makes it difficult to learn, play, and grow. And 8 out of 10 of these children do not receive help.
'At home, there was always fighting and shouting.' - Megan (11)
Mental health
The mental pressure on children is increasing worldwide. In the Netherlands, we see the same worrying trend:
young people report more stress, more emotional problems, and more psychosomatic complaints than ten years ago. Mental health is the silent crisis of this generation. And this
crisis often starts young.
Poverty
Poverty has a major impact on the development of children. The stress it causes affects their memory and concentration, and often comes at the expense of their long-term health.
Loneliness
Research commissioned by Kinderpostzegels shows that one in ten primary school children often or always feel lonely. Children say this is often due to (online) bullying and exclusion, the lack of unconditional support at home or in their environment, or due to the pressure and stress that school entails.
het begint bij
Children's rights
56% of children don't know they have rights. Research also shows that children increasingly distrust adults to protect them. We find this alarming.
As a key partner of the Children's Rights Collective and through intensive collaboration with Defence for Children, we ensure that children's rights are respected and that children know what their rights are.
