Trudie Schils

The Effect of Early Retirement Incentives on the Training Participation of Older Workers

Human capital theory predicts that older workers are less likely to participate in on-the-job training than younger workers, due to lower net returns on such investments. Early retirement institutions are likely to affect these returns. Using the European Community Household Panel we show that older workers participate less in training, and that early retirement institutions do indeed matter. Generous early retirement schemes discourage older workers from taking part in training, whereas flexible early retirement schemes encourage this. Finally, the results suggest that in most European countries training can keep older workers longer in the labour market.

Why Do Low-Educated Workers Invest Less in Further Training?

Several studies document that low-educated workers participate less often in further training than high-educated workers. This article investigates two possible explanations: low-educated workers invest less in training because of (1) the lower economic returns to these investments or (2) their lower willingness to participate in training. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, we find that the economic returns to training for low-educated workers are positive and not significantly different from those for high-educated workers. However, low-educated workers are significantly less willing to participate in training. We show that this lesser willingness to train is driven by economic preferences, and personality traits.

Sectoral variation in collectively agreed employment protection: Evidence from Dutch flexicurity

This article addresses the flexicurity outcomes of sectoral collective bargaining in the Netherlands. Dutch experience — presented as a model by the European Commission — proves not to be a case of ‘one size fits all’. Taking an institutionalist but firm-centred perspective, our analysis links the flexicurity policy debate to the theoretical analyses of ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ (VoC), which also stress various institutional constellations that can lead to equally optimal outcomes. In contrast to the core argument of the VoC perspective that diversity between institutional regimes is persistent, we find convergence across sectors over time. However, sectoral differences in the negotiated flexicurity balance remain apparent.

The Healthy Primary School of the Future: study protocol of a quasi-experimental study

BackgroundUnhealthy lifestyles in early childhood are a major global health challenge. These lifestyles often persist from generation to generation and contribute to a vicious cycle of health-related and social problems. This design article presents a study evaluating the effects of two novel healthy school interventions. The main outcome measure will be changes in children’s body mass index (BMI). In addition, lifestyle behaviours, academic achievement, child well-being, socio-economic differences, and societal costs will be examined.MethodsIn close collaboration with various stakeholders, a quasi-experimental study was developed, for which children of four intervention schools (n = 1200) in the southern part of the Netherlands are compared with children of four control schools (n = 1200) in the same region. The interventions started in November 2015. In two of the four intervention schools, a whole-school approach named ‘The Healthy Primary School of the Future’, is implemented with the aim of improving physical activity and dietary behaviour. For this intervention, pupils are offered an extended curriculum, including a healthy lunch, more physical exercises, and social and educational activities, next to the regular school curriculum. In the two other intervention schools, a physical-activity school approach called ‘The Physical Activity School’, is implemented, which is essentially similar to the other intervention, except that no lunch is provided. The interventions proceed during a period of 4 years. Apart from the effectiveness of both interventions, the process, the cost-effectiveness, and the expected legal implications are studied. Data collection is conducted within the school system. The baseline measurements started in September 2015 and yearly follow-up measurements are taking place until 2019.DiscussionA whole-school approach is a new concept in the Netherlands. Due to its innovative, multifaceted nature and sound scientific foundation, these integrated programmes have the potential to form a template for primary schools worldwide. The effects of this approach may extend further than the outcomes associated with well-being and academic achievement, potentially impacting legal and cultural aspects in our society.Trial registrationThe study protocol was registered in the database ClinicalTrials.gov on 14-06-2016 with the reference number NCT02800616.

Erratum to: The Healthy Primary School of the Future: study protocol of a quasi- experimental study

Following publication of this article [1], it has come to our attention that some of the terminology used in the article could be difficult to interpret.

Non-standard employment patterns across occupations in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is known as a country with a high share of atypical work, largely due to a high incidence of part-time workers. Over the last decades, the share of part-time jobs has substantially increased, and the Netherlands is now the European leader in part-time work both for men and for women (CBS, 2009). However, the growth of part-time work during this period has varied substantially across occupations. Female-dominated occupations such as caring jobs are characterised by more part-time work than male-dominated occupations like construction jobs. Another important gender difference is that men usually work more hours in part-time than women (CBS, 2010). The share of temporary work has also considerably increased over the past decades from about 11 per cent of the employees having a temporary contract in 1995 to 18.5 per cent in 2010 (Houwing, 2010; Eurostat, 2011). This increase was much stronger than in the EU as a whole where the share of temporary workers increased from about 12 per cent in 1995 to 14 per cent in 2010. Currently, only Spain, Portugal and Poland have a higher share of temporary workers than the Netherlands.

Introduction: Achieving an Optimal Social Policy Mix

Since the 1990s it has become more or less conventional wisdom in most European countries that the predominant passive character of social policy should be replaced by more active measures. The welfare state that was built up in the post-Second World War period in Western Europe might have been quite successful in reducing poverty and providing income protection, but it proved unable to cope with the sharp rise of unemployment and the rapidly increasing numbers of benefi t claimants after the oil shocks of the 1970s. Moreover, in the 1990s it became widely accepted that the rising number of benefi ciaries was at least partly caused – or aggravated – by the passive character of the welfare state. From a failing solution to the problem of a malfunctioning economy, the welfare state became the problem itself. During the 1990s, two main approaches were advocated to tackle the problems of the welfare state. The fi rst was the (neo)liberal approach of welfare state retrenchment. To put it bluntly, this approach tries to remedy the fl aws of the welfare state by reducing it and creating more room for the market and the private provision of income insurance. The main weakness of this approach is, of course, that it neglects the reasons why the welfare state was introduced in the fi rst place, that is, to compensate for market failures. Shifting the responsibility for social protection from the state back to the market can give rise again to the unfavourable social consequences of market failures, such as high poverty levels, large income disparities and social exclusion of weaker groups. The second approach boils down to activating the welfare state. This approach was inspired by the alleged success of the Nordic welfare states, which for a long time were able to combine a high standard of social protection, low unemployment rates and high labour participation rates. The success of these welfare states is often attributed to their active labour market policies, which stimulate and