12 February 2008

THE HAGUE – Mothers are not the only ones working mostly part time in the Netherlands. Women without (young) children also tend to work less than 35 hours a week. This clearly sets the Netherlands apart from other countries, according to the report Nederland deeltijdland (The Netherlands, part-time country) published by the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau on Tuesday.

Many women in the Netherlands work, compared to other countries. More than two thirds of women hold a job for at least one hour per week. Only in Scandinavia and Iceland is the percentage of working women higher.

Many women in the Netherlands also continue to work after having children. Almost three quarters of women with children under four work. In Germany that figure is 45 percent and in France 60 percent.

The Dutch woman is a champion in part-time work however. Three-quarters of working women have a part-time job for less than 35 hours per week. That is almost twice the European average.

Part-time work fits in with convictions about caring for children. The fact that mothers work is no longer an issue. But most Dutch think that a full-time job is taking it too far. A majority feels that children are best looked after by their own parents.

A third of the women and more than half of men think that women are best suited to this. Young women and young men do not have significantly different opinions on this from people 20 years ago.

This is much the case in other countries as well. Almost half of all men and women in France, former West Germany and Spain believe that the family suffers if the mother holds a full time job. Only a quarter of people in Scandinavia are of this opinion.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2008]

Subject: Dutch news