Women wanted ! Or: how women should save the Dutch economy Swedish-Dutch Conference on Gender Equality and Labour Participation The Hague, 21st November 2008 Joop Schippers

Three major demographic developments  Dejuvenation (ontgroening)  Ageing: growing share of 50/60+  ‘Double ageing’: growing share of 80/85+

Consequences for the labour market  From a buyers’ market (2nd half of the 20th century; large impact of female participation)..... .... To a sellers’ market (1st half of the 21st century), despite current economic problems

Labour force  Changing composition (older, more women and more immigrant workers)  Changing ambitions (higher education/individualization): people want more from their job. They do no live to work, but work to live

Labour market forecasts Till 2020: - net increase in labour demand: > 600,000 workers, in particular in care (500,000) - next to that replacement demand: 2.6 million, in particular in education (260,000 to )

Development of labour supply Bron: Centraal Planbureau, 2005

Female labour participation by cohort,

Major educational differences

Femal work hours by cohort,

Small part-time jobs  Primarily, though not exclusively a matter of low educated. Idem reduction of work hours at the start of family formation  Taskforce DeeltijdPlus: focus on culture  Cie Bakker (and earlier VCE): more hours must pay => too much financial disincentives

Marginal tax rate for part-time workers

What is lacking in the Netherlands?  Interesting career opportunities for female and male part-time workers (= also a matter of making education pay)  General awareness that care is important. Yet, spending time/money on care - and education - is a form of investment Both issues are important to ‘seduce’ men

To conclude  Higher female labour market participation in the Netherlands is a matter of culture, but also of making work pay  Proposals of the Committee for the promotion of labour market participation may help, but often lack the tailor-made approach to include women