Amsterdam, Netherlands - SEO Economisch Onderzoek

the municipalities of Amstelveen, Almere, Haarlem and Diemen. However, also in Waterland,IJmond and the Zaanstreek regions, a higher percentage of students at UAS can be found. Apossible explanation is that students at the UAS are living with their parents more often thanstudents at research universities.Figure 1-10: Higher education students by place of livingAmsterdamWaterland +Het Gooi en VechtstreekAmstel‐Meerlandenagglomeratie HaarlemIJmondZaanstreek0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%universitiesUASSource: O+S Amsterdam (2008a)Table 1-9 presents the unemployment rate for the Groot-Amsterdam region (data on the level ofthe Amsterdam metropolitan region were not available) and the Netherlands. The Groot-Amsterdam region performed better than the national average on a number of key economicindicators over the last decade. Unemployment has declined sharply in the Groot-Amsterdamregion (as in the rest of the Netherlands) due to labor market and social welfare reforms.Nevertheless, unemployment has been structurally higher in the Groot-Amsterdam region ascompared to the Dutch average. Only in 2004 the unemployment rate was more or less the sameas the national average.Table 1-9: Unemployment (% of population aged 15-64)1996 2000 2004 2008Groot-Amsterdam 8.7% 5.2% 6.4% 4.0%Nederland 7.5% 3.8% 6.5% 3.9%Source: Statistics Netherlands Statline (2008d)1.5 The governance structure1.5.1 Governance in the NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a unitary state with three tiers of government: central, provincial andmunicipal with direct elections taking place for all three tiers. There are currently 12 provincesand 443 municipalities (figure for 2008, see CBS Statline).27