Chantal Remery

Managing an aging workforce and a tight labor market: views held by Dutch employers

Despite the strong growth in employment of the past years, the Dutch labor market faces a number of persistent problems. One such problem is the large number of people on disability benefits. Another problem is the low labor force participation of women, not so much in terms of people, but in terms of hours worked (Henkens et al. 2002). And, despite an increase since the mid-1990s, the labor force participation of people over 50 is also much lower than the European average (OECD 1996). These low labor force participation rates should be seen against the backdrop of a strong increase in labor demand in recent years. In many sectors of the Dutch economy, this has led to tightness in the labor market (CPB 2000). Given that the population of the Netherlands is aging, new imbalances are looming on the horizon. Structural changes need to be implemented to pay for the growing number of pensioners. [....]

Towards a European Union Gender Equality Index

In order to monitor progress with respect to gender equality in European Union member states, indices are extremely useful. Existing indices are, however, not appropriate because they do not focus exclusively on gender (in)equality and have not been created to be used at the European level. Therefore a European Union Gender Equality Index is presented in this article. Based on the universal caregiver model as outlined by Fraser (1997), the index is composed of four dimensions: equal sharing of paid work, money, decision-making power and time. With regard to the applied methodology, the index is constructed in such a way that the value indicates the actual distance from a situation of full equality. The empirical results show that full equality is still a long way off. Finland, Sweden and Denmark display the highest overall performance, whereas the southern countries — Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Spain and Italy — perform rather poorly.

Labour market flexibility in the Netherlands: looking for winners and losers

Almost two decades have passed since Dutch employers, unions and the government, in their struggle against unemployment, agreed on a policy to increase labour market flexibility. Over the years the share of flexible jobs in the Netherlands has gradually increased to around ten percent. According to some parties the introduction of more labour market flexibility would lead to more inequality and a division in the labour market between workers with permanent employment and an underclass of women, immigrant workers and poorly educated workers with temporary contracts. The Dutch government has always claimed that a special set of legal rules regarding labour market flexibility would prevent the development of such an underclass. In this article three questions are addressed: Who has a flexible labour contract and who is in permanent employment? What is the pattern of transition to permanent contracts? What are the consequences for wage rates for those on permanent or flexible contracts respectively? The answers to these questions are provided using panel data for the period 1986-96. The results show that labour market flexibility has been introduced into the Dutch labour market without detrimental consequences for specific groups of workers.

Gender Diversity and Firm Performance: Evidence from Dutch and Danish Boardrooms

Drawing on the business case for gender diversity, this article examines whether board gender diversity has a positive effect on firm performance, based on evidence from the Netherlands and Denmark. We use empirical data on 186 listed firms observed in 2007. Almost 40% have at least one woman in the boardroom. Within boards, the average share of women is only 5.4%. To investigate the impact of board gender diversity, two-stage least-squares estimation is applied, using Tobin’s Q as a measure of performance. Our findings indicate that on the basis of this data-set, there is no relation between board diversity and firm performance.

Shortages in an ageing labour market: an analysis of employers' behaviour

Different policies are being promoted to increase the labour supply in ageing labour markets. This article presents the results of a large-scale survey carried out among Dutch employers into their management of the constraints presented by a tight labour market. Organizations take different measures in response to staff shortages, which can in fact be distinguished as four strategies. The first relates to the recruitment of new groups of workers: groups that traditionally were perhaps not a preferred choice. The principal measures in this strategy are the recruitment of women and ethnic workers, and to a lesser extent the elderly. The second strategy focused on increasing the labour supply of existing workers. Overtime, encouraging part-timers to work extra hours and a structural increase in the length of the working week were part of this strategy. The measures constituting the third strategy were of a different type. Generally, these measures were adopted in order to cope with temporary peaks. Work was outsourced, a recruitment agency used, and higher wages offered to try to fill a vacancy. The fourth strategy focused on substituting technology/capital for labour. Regression analyses is carried out to explain which strategies organizations use to deal with shortages.

Childcare services in 25 European union member states: The Barcelona targets revisited

Personal services are extremely important in the lives of working parents. This applies in particular to childcare services, as care responsibilities constitute a major obstacle to (full) employment. The importance of measures in this area has long been recognised by the European Council and Union. In March 1992, the European Council passed a recommendation on childcare to the effect that Member States ‘should take and/or progressively encourage initiatives to enable women and men to reconcile their occupational family and upbringing responsibilities arising from the care of children’ (92/241/EEC). Ten years later, at the 2002 Barcelona summit, the aims were formulated more explicitly and targets were set with regard to childcare. Confirming the goal of full employment, the European Council agreed that ‘Member States should remove disincentives to female labour force participation and strive, taking into account the demand for childcare facilities and in line with national patterns of provision, to provide childcare by 2010 to at least 90% of children between 3 years old and the mandatory school age and at least 33% of children under 3 years of age’ (European Council, 2002).

Family-friendly policies in The Netherlands

The article reports on research among Dutch employers concerning the arrangements they provide for employees to help them with the reconciliation of work and family life. The research not only answers the question of to what extent different employers offer arrangements like childcare facilities, flexible working hours or leave schemes, but it also tries to explain employers’ policies. The explanatory analysis includes organisational characteristics and employers’ opinions with respect to costs and benefits of different arrangements. The empirical analysis is based on a survey among 871 organisations in the profit sector and the non‐profit sector. One major conclusion is that family‐friendly arrangements have become rather common among organisations; employers are aware of the fact that the reconciliation of work and care has become an issue for an increasing number of workers.

Successors in Dutch family businesses : Gender differences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences among (potential) successors of Dutch family firms with respect to education, self-perceived capabilities and ownership ambition. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis – which includes correlations, t-test and logistic regression analysis – is inspired by several theoretical perspectives used in previous studies and based on a sample of 232 (potential) successors who filled in a questionnaire. Findings – The results show that there is a clear gender difference regarding ownership; men strive more often for full ownership, whereas women opt for shared ownership, even when controlling for relevant variables such as the presence of children. Research limitations/implications – Future research should address the precise reasons why female successors prefer shared ownership. Particularly, it would be interesting to include the impact of the institutional environment, for example the specific Dutch working culture, where the...

Public Support to Young Families in the European Union

Presumably, the biggest transition in life is becoming a parent. Compared to a first job, getting married or buying a house, having a baby has a much larger impact on small daily routines as well as on overall life perspective. Becoming a parent fundamentally changes one’s life; the birth of a child creates new responsibilities and new strains but also opens up new enjoyments and parental privileges.

Out-of-school childcare: Exploring availability and quality in EU member states:

While a large number of studies focus on childcare facilities for preschool children, attention for out-of-school facilities is limited. The implicit assumption seems to be that facilities to combine work and care activities are less relevant once children reach the schoolgoing age. Yet, in most countries school hours are only part-time and not compatible with a full-time working week. This study adds to the literature by providing the first overview of the availability and quality of out-of-school childcare in 27 European Union (EU) member states. The results show that only a few EU countries have a well-developed infrastructure of out-of-school care services. In addition, the (structural) quality of out-of-school care varies across the member states. Given the importance of a supportive infrastructure, a further investment in comprehensive out-of-school care system remains important, both from the perspective of the (female) participation rate and the well-being of children.