Would part-timers working more hours fix our labour shortages?
In the media
The Netherlands leads Europe when it comes to part-time work. Does this affect labour shortages? According to Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics, it's more nuanced: ‘A trade-off between paid employment, care responsibilities, voluntary work, and free time.’
Labour participation in our country is currently high, Van Vliet explains. 'At the same time, many people often work part-time and, in many cases, that will be a conscious choice.' Van Vliet adds that part-time workers often use unpaid hours for other purposes, such as care responsibilities and household tasks.
The Dutch government is proposing tax measures that would make it more attractive to work longer hours, hoping that part-timers will choose to work more. Van Vliet points out that tax measures to encourage people to work longer hours will only have a modest effect. 'It can do no harm to make further improvements to the tax system. But the effects of this proposal, in terms of how many extra hours part-timers would work, will be relatively modest.’
Read the full article on news site NU.nl (in Dutch)