part-time jobs in the netherlands: background of an accidental development monique kuunders,...
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Part-time jobs in the Netherlands:Background of an accidental development
Monique Kuunders, Netherlands Youth InstituteNovember 30th, 2010
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Overview
• How many Dutch people work part-time?
• Why do they work part-time?
• Fiscal policies for working parents
• Benefit or harm?
• Future issues
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Overview
• How many Dutch people work part-time?
• Why do they work part-time?
• Fiscal policies for working parents
• Benefit or harm?
• Future issues
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Netherlands: champion part-time work!
Part-time employment for EU countries, 2008
High labour participation of mothers, but they work little hours
70% of mothers work (2009)…but: 44% work no more than 18 hours per week
25 hrs/wk is average for women in the Netherlands (2007)
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Mothers of children <18 in 2009
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Couples with children <18
1992 2009
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Overview
• How many Dutch people work part-time?
• Why do they work part-time?
• Fiscal policies for working parents
• Benefit or harm?
• Future issues
Why? - Historical background
• 1950s: shortage of young female staff• 1973: tax reform – tax on individual income• 1980s: policy of part-time jobs at government• 1982: Wassenaar agreement • 1987: equal treatment of full-time and part-
time employees in employment insurance • 1996: Ban on discriminating on work hours• 2000: Working Hours Adjustment Act
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Why? - Recent developments
• 2005: Child Care Act• 2007: Act on Primary
Education obligates schools to facilitate child care after school
Booming child care use!
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Why? - Dutch women want to work part-time• They can financially• Part-time jobs are available• Balance between work and private life• “All I’ll earn, will go to child care”• It is ‘the way to do it’:
– “you don’t have children and then let them be raised by somebody else”
– “you don’t live to work, but work to live”
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Why? - Part-time jobs offer a solution to employers• Preferred option of employees • Work planning• Handling variation in staffing needs
and costs
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Overview
• How many Dutch people work part-time?
• Why do they work part-time?
• Fiscal policies for working parents
• Benefit or harm?
• Future issues
Working parents are allegible for a range of tax arrangements• Child related allowance (Kindgebonden budget) • --> the lower the income, the higher• Child care allowance (Kinderopvangtoeslag)
• Lone parent reduction (Alleenstaande ouderkorting)
• Parental leave reduction (Ouderschapsverlofkorting)
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General tax arrangements
• General income reduction (Algemene heffingskorting)
transferable between partners!Combination reduction (Combinatiekorting)
for lowest earning partner , only if both partners work
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Overview
• How many Dutch people work part-time?
• Why do they work part-time?
• Fiscal policies for working parents
• Benefit or harm?
• Future issues
Dutch government: “participation of women in work should rise!”
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Small part-time jobs are a problem• Small amount of hours contributed
to work force by women• Financial independance of the
woman and her family (more single-parents)
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Overview
• How many Dutch people work part-time?
• Why do they work part-time?
• Fiscal policies for working parents
• Benefit or harm?
• Future issues
‘More opportunities for woman’ government planStimulate participation of women in work force:•Work should pay•Combining work and care should be easier•More equal distribution of work between men and women
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A flexible social infrastructure
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• Governmental services open at night• community-schools and day care
centres• Medical services open at night• Flexible work-times
22picture: Peter de wit
Thank you
Monique Kuunders, MSc: [email protected]
The Netherlands Youth Institute (Nederlands Jeugdinstituut)
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Part-time jobs in the Netherlands:Solution options – for discussion
Monique Kuunders, Netherlands Youth InstituteNovember 30th, 2010
The problem in the Netherlands
High labour participation of mothers, but they work little hours
70% of mothers work (2009)…but: 44% work no more than 18 hours per week
25 hrs/wk is average for women in the Netherlands (2007)
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There is a complex of reasons
• Fiscal policy is still partly supportive of breadwinner families
• The working place in some industries is now used to part time employees
• Child care facilities and primary schools are designed for one-and-a-half earners
• Public opinion is supportive of part-time working mothers
Taskforce ParttimePlus
Taskforce DeeltijdPlus started researching the question how to stimulate people to work a bigger job in 2008.
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Focused legal framework
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• Starting point: ‘working pays’• Flexible working times• Paid parental leave• No general income reduction for
families• No fiscal regulations that are
barriers to work
Focused legal framework (2)
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• Student-loan pay back not related to work hours
• A flexible maternal leave• One ministry• No 9-to-5 attitude• Regulations on work conditions • An active information policy
The right public services
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For children from 0-12:•Child care and education •One service; one location•No out-of-school lunch break•Open 8:00-18:00
Tackle
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- Jobs barrier
- Financial barrier
- Practical barrier
But in the end…
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“Working is an obligation”???
Elma Drayer, author of ‘Spoiled princesses – portrait of the Dutch woman’ (Verwende prinsesjes – portret van de Nederlandse vrouw).
33picture: Peter de wit
Thank you
Monique Kuunders, MSc: [email protected]
The Netherlands Youth Institute (Nederlands Jeugdinstituut)
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“I thought ‘oh, how will I manage this?!’. In the end, I stopped working for a couple of years and became a primairy school teacher”
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“I started in 1999 as first part-time surgeon in training. My professor was not amused. But since then I never got complaints. I am totally satisfied by the way I arranged things. I just also want to be with my children.”
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Single mothers (2009)
Mothers with partner (2009)