The traditional family where the man works full-time and the woman has a part-time job to pay for extras is alive and well in the Netherlands, according to a new report by the government’s social policy unit SCP.

The report shows that only 7% of Dutch women with a part-time job would like to work full-time and only one-third work because they need money. Only 41% of women with part-time jobs have children under the age of 11.
Women choose to work part-time so that it is easier to care for children, enjoy their hobbies, maintain social contacts and keep fit, the survey shows. ‘Women therefore take on the lion’s share of the household duties and childcare,’ the report says.

Money and status unimportant
But 40% of young women without children also work part-time, and only 16% of them would like a full-time job, the survey shows.
It points out that the government has actively stimulated the development of part-time jobs since the 1980s. Some 75% of women with jobs in the Netherlands work less than 35 hours a week, the highest percentage in Europe.
Many of the women are not interested in the money or status a career brings, the survey shows. Most feel that being recognised as good at their jobs and having nice colleagues is more important.
Minister shocked
The results of the survey have shocked Ronald Plasterk, the minister with special responsibility for women’s issues, and Pia Dijkstra, who chairs the government commission on boosting women’s working hours.
The AD newspaper reports that Plasterk and Dijkstra blame mothers and mothers-in-law for talking young women into working less.
‘They think their daughters and daughters-in-law have a hard time and say ‘do you really want to do that, dearie?’ the paper quotes the minister as saying.
‘Women are not sufficiently aware that … one in three marriages breaks down and they will end up without income or pension,’ says Plasterk.
He says the current situation means a great deal of female talent is being wasted. ‘In many areas there are more women graduates than men. But look who gets to the top, look who becomes professor. There are so few women,’ the AD quotes him as saying.
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