About NIDI

NIDI is the national demographic institute of the Netherlands. Founded in 1970, NIDI became affiliated to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in 2003 and is the only social science institute of the Academy. Firmly rooted in science and society NIDI draws its inspiration from the interplay of demographic and social issues and strives for scientific excellence.

Our mission is to build and maintain a knowledge infrastructure for population issues to address the challenges that demographic developments pose to individuals and society. Population growth and decline, mobility and population distribution, population ageing and population diversity, life course dynamics, intergenerational relations, and health and longevity are but a few of the dimensions of the ever-changing landscape of population issues which make up the population challenge. Demographic research is needed to address this challenge and to study population trends and their impacts on economic development, the environment, social networks, social cohesion, health and care systems, retirement and social security issues, family life and wellbeing.

Our aim is to create and share demographic knowledge. Our goal is to conduct high-quality scientific research into population issues (our core activity) and to disseminate demographic knowledge to stakeholders in academia, policy and society at large.

Our research

• is driven by societal issues, scientific curiosity and a demand for knowledge
• is interdisciplinary and international
• integrates basic and applied studies
• stresses the micro-foundations of population change
• has a clear focus that captures the ultimate cause of population change: ‘Lives in Contexts’