The number of people working between 28 and 35 hours a week has grown by 300,000 in four years, national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

Almost 1.9 million people now work at least three and a half days a week and couples with children are leading the way, the CBS said.

CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen told broadcaster NOS that many young parents want to share care more evenly, which helps explain the shift towards “almost-full-time” jobs.  The increase, he said, is “relatively large”.

Women are far more likely than men to work part-time, including in these larger part-time jobs. Of women with a partner and children, 31% work between 28 and 35 hours, compared with 26% of women with a partner but no children.

Around 5.1 million people in the Netherlands now work full-time, slightly fewer than last year but more than the 4.8 million recorded four years ago. The CBS defines a full-time job as being at least 35 hours a week. Some 35% of Dutch women and 81% of men now have a full-time job using this definition.

About seven in 10 of the under-25s both are in education and have a small part-time job. Part-time work is also common among pension-age workers, with 21% doing so to remain socially active, usually for one or two days a week, Van Mulligen said.