Where do Caribbean Dutch children live?

On Bonaire, 55 percent of young people live with both parents and just over one-quarter live with one parent. Nearly 40 percent of young people on St Eustatius live with both parents and over 40 percent with one parent. Half of the young residents on Saba live with both parents and more than one-quarter live with one parent. As of 1 January 2021, the number of residents aged 0 to 24 years in the Caribbean Netherlands stood at slightly over 7 thousand, i.e. nearly 27 percent of the total population.

Just over half of the Caribbean Dutch young population were living with both parents at the beginning of 2021. The share of children living with one parent was 29 percent. Between 2012 and 2021, the share that lives with one or both parents increased from 72 to 82 percent. A small share (6 percent) lived independently, either with a partner and/or child or otherwise. The rest of the young people in the Caribbean Netherlands lived in a household as other household members. This means, for example, that they live with their partner (and children, if any) in the parental home, have moved in with a brother or sister who lives independently or live with an uncle or aunt. Between 2012 and 2021, this share declined from 17 to 12 percent.

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Population aged 0-24 yrs by household composition, 1 January (%)
eiland	jaar	Child living with two parents	Child living with single parent	Single person	Partner in a couple	Single parent	Member of other household
Bonaire	2012, Bonaire	51.4	23.0	4.2	3.8	0.9	16.7
Bonaire	2021, Bonaire	55.1	26.9	3.3	2.2	0.7	11.8
St Eustatius	2012, St Eustatius	43.2	28.7	3.9	2.1	0.8	21.4
St Eustatius	2021, St Eustatius	39.0	41.2	2.5	1.5	1.3	14.5
Saba	2012, Saba	40.5	14.7	22.9	7.0	0.5	14.4
Saba	2021, Saba	52.9	31.4	5.3	3.4	0.6	6.4

Bonaire

At the start of 2021, 55 percent of the young people on Bonaire were living with both their parents. In addition, slightly more than one-quarter were living with one parent. Both shares have increased by several percentage points since 2012. In 2021, 12 percent were living in a household as other household members. This share has fallen by 5 percentage points since 2012.

St Eustatius

At the start of 2021, 39 percent of Statia’s young population were living with both parents and 41 percent with one parent. The share of young people living with one parent has increased since 2012 by 12.5 percentage points. More than one in seven young people are other household members. This share has fallen by 7 percentage points since 2012.

Saba

At the beginning of 2021, more than half of Saba’s youngest residents were living in two-parent families and nearly one-third in a family with one parent. Both shares have increased significantly since the beginning of 2012: by over 12 and nearly 13 percentage points, respectively. The share of young people living as single persons stood at 5 percent. This is a decrease of nearly 18 percentage points relative to 2012. Likewise, the share of young people living as other household members has declined substantially. Previously, this was related to clean-ups of the population registry. In 2020, there was also a sharp drop in the number of students moving to Saba to attend the Saba University School of Medicine; hence, there were fewer young single persons.

Sources

Youth Monitor – Caribbean Netherlands

StatLine – Caribbean Netherlands, Population

Table – Households Caribbean Netherlands, 1 January 2020

Relevant links

Publication – Trends in the Caribbean Netherlands 2021

Dossier – Caribbean Netherlands

Empty cell	figure not applicable
.	figure is unknown, insufficiently reliable or confidential
*	provisional figure
**	revised provisional figure
–	(between two numbers) inclusive
0 (0.0)	less than half of unit concerned
2016–2017	2016 to 2017 inclusive
2016/2017	average for the years 2016 up to and including 2017
2016/’17	crop year, financial year, school year etc., beginning in 2016 and ending in 2017
2004/’05–2016/’17	crop year etc. 2004/’05 up to and including 2016/’17