Welcome to the Netherlands!
Welkom in Nederland!
This website explains work and family issues and relevant policies in the Netherlands. We hope that you take full advantage of the links on the side of the page to educate yourself and others about the complexity of Dutch family-life structures, employment inequality, leave policies, and organizations. We also provide additional resources for which you can further your research on these issues in the annotated bibliography.Introduction
The Netherlands is a country in Northwest Europe with about 16 million inhabitants. Their
national motto is: "Ik zal handhaven" or "I will endure". The
national language is Dutch and the region has strong ties to
Conservative Christianity, which promoted single-earner families
in the Netherlands for most of the 20th century. Recently, the
Netherlands has one of the highest rates of employed women in the
European Union, with more families adhering to a "one and a
half-earner" model where the mother works part-time. Such a
structure allows the woman to balance a career with a family.The Netherlands has the highest number of people working part-time by choice and an enviable unemployment rate. It is also distinguished by the fact that all schools receive equal public funding, regardless of being public or private.
The work-family policies of the Netherlands are accommodating to families but in a gender specific way. Both men and women are provided a paid leave for family affairs, but the uptake and use of such leaves occurs in a gendered way, with the women still being responsible for most childcare.
Image Courtesy of CIA World Factbook
