1. Part-Time Work in the Netherlands: Success or Failure? Gido ten Dolle Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment CICERO FOUNDATION Paris 12 October 2007

2. Introduction 1. Facts & Figures 2. Reasons behind 3. Good or bad practice? 4. Transferability 5. Conclusion

3. 1. Facts and Figures

4. Weekly working hours by sex 1992-2002 in NL

5. Part time employment as a proportion of total employment Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2006 MenWomen 199420022005199420022005 NL 11,3 14,715,354,558,860,9 AU2,73,14,824,626,429,6 BEL4,46,06,230,032,433,1 GER3,05,57,428,035,339,4 DK9,810,312,026,223,024,9 LUX1,92,31,725,728,131,1 SW6,87,88,044,945,445,8

6. Labour participation women (age 15-64)

7. 2. Reasons behind

8. Agreement Wassenaar 1982 Social Tripartite agreement: start of wage moderation policy – in change for: start with working time reduction, trying to prevent a further increase on unemployment

9. Flex- and security Act A new deal with social partners: The introduction of flexible contracts (with flexible working hours) – In change for The introduction of the same level of social protection for flexible workers

10. Working Hours Adjustment Act 2000 The introduction of the right for all workers to ask their employer to work less or more hours than they actually do.

11. 3. Success or Failure

13. Average annual hours actually worked per person

14. Effect of past part-time work 1990-19951996-2001 Function level Male +- Female ++ Status Male +- Female ++ Wage Male -- Female --

15. 4. Transferability

16. Determinants of full-time and part-time employment Source: Bassanini and Duval (2006) Full-time eomployment Part-time employment Total employment Tax-incentive to part-time -++ Family cash benefits No-- Number of leave weeks +-Na Childcare subsidies +No+ Union density +-No

17. 5. Conclusion 1. NL is first part-time economy in the world 2. Unique position: growth in female participation coincides with an early introduction of a flexible labour market 3. Working part-time is largely voluntary 4. Positive effect on labour market participation (i.e. on number of persons, not on hours worked), negative effect on wages and on socio-economic status of part-time working men. 5. Transferability: to find a proper balance between individual preferences (and related social protection measures) and economic needs