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- The Netherlands was neutral in both world wars.
- So, unlike countries such as Britain, Germany & US, it didn’t require its men to get enlisted in the armed forces compulsorily.
- Since men were not away fighting wars, women were not required to join the labour force.
- Also, the Netherlands has primarily been governed by political parties inclined towards traditional Christian values.
- These values favour society to develop conditions supporting work in the home.
- So, women were encouraged to stay at home, and the state provided welfare payments for smoothly running households.
- While this ideology remained in force till the early 1980s, in the background, a feminist movement began developing in 1968.
- The movement gained momentum in 1976 with the novel De Schaamte Voorbij.
- By the early 1980s, the movement was able to disintegrate the ‘male breadwinner logic’ in favour of incorporating women into the workforce.
- Culturally, society was still skewed towards ‘family care’, and part-time work was praised as it upheld Christian values.
- The state, therefore, worked closely with corporations to ensure part-time jobs enjoyed legal status similar to that of full-time jobs.
- Gradually, however, part-time work was considered disadvantageous to women as they couldn’t exploit their full potential and grow to top positions.
- So things changed in the 21st century, and now the government encourages women to join the full-time workforce, yet women continue to like part-time jobs more.
- Part-time jobs are also attractive as, unlike many other countries where part-time jobs are usually low-skilled, in the Netherlands, a lot of high-skilled work is done part-time.
- In 2018, the part-time workers’ percentage in the Netherlands was 50.1% against the EU average of 19%.
- 75% of the total working women in the Netherlands worked part-time, while 25% of the total working men worked part-time; these figures for the EU were 31% for women & 9% for men.
Image courtesy of Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels
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