VZCZCXRO6328
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTC #0340/01 0541441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231441Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8290
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAT/AMCONSUL AMSTERDAM 2321

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LABOR FOR BBRUMFIELD 
STATE FOR DRL/IL AND EUR/UBI 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO GAO FOR GGOODWIN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KWMN SOCI PGOV NL
SUBJECT: PART-TIME WORK PROMOTES WOMEN'S LABOR PARTICIPATION; 
HINDERS CAREER ADVANCEMENT 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. Participation of women in the workforce in the 
Netherlands has increased substantially in the last 15 years. During 
mid-February meetings with a visiting Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) delegation, government, academic, and labor union 
experts highlighted some of the complex issues affecting in 
workforce participation for women.  Practices and policies which 
enable part-time work and the use of child care have increased 
female participation in the workforce.  Part-time work, however, 
also hinders the advancement of women within their careers. 
Legislation on these issues traditionally codifies rather than 
forces change in prevailing labor market practices.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) GAO visited the Netherlands as part of a congressionally 
requested multi-country study on policies and practices to increase 
the workforce participation of women and low-wage/low-skilled 
workers.  The consensus among those consulted was that labor 
participation rates for women have increased significantly (from 29% 
to 65% between 1980 and 2005) and the growth of part-time employment 
has been an important factor in that increase. According to Peter 
Stein, Director of Work and Care at the Ministry of Social Affairs 
and Employment, approximately 54% of women work 12 or more hours per 
week at a paid job.  Estimates vary, however, and some reports 
indicate that the percentage of those working at least 12 hours per 
week is closer to 65%.  Of the women employed, almost three-quarters 
work part time (fewer than 35 hours per week).  Roughly half of 
women employed part time work 3 to 4 days a week.  Many women start 
their careers working full time, and when they begin to have 
children, they reduce their hours to part-time in order to care for 
their children.  Dr. Wiemer Salverda with the Amsterdam Institute 
for Advanced Labor Studies said that the option of working reduced 
hours is particularly beneficial in keeping high-skilled women in 
the work force.  Many professional women choose to remain in their 
current positions on a part-time basis rather than the alternative 
of leaving the workforce altogether while their children are young 
and returning at a later date in lower skilled (and lower paid) 
positions.  According to a January 2007 Social Affairs Ministry 
report, however, 11% of working women do give up their jobs 
completely upon the birth of their first child. 
 
¶3. (U) Part-time work is generally not viewed negatively in the 
Netherlands.  It is accompanied by pro-rated benefits, and can be 
highly paid.  A common pattern is for a woman to reduce her working 
hours to three days a week, and to use childcare for those three 
days.  Approximately 20% of men work part time, and several experts 
indicated that part of the motivation for this is to share in the 
child care responsibilities. 
 
¶4. (U) The status of part-time workers was further solidified with 
the adoption of the Equal Treatment Act (Full-time and Part-time 
workers) of 1996, and the Working Hours Adjustment Act of 2000, 
which gave employees the right to increase or reduce their hours. 
Additional practices and recent policies involving childcare and 
leave benefits have further facilitated women's participation in the 
workforce.  For example, the Work and Care Act of 2001 and 2004 
sickness benefits legislation mandated additional "family friendly" 
benefits such as more flexible parental leave and paid "calamity 
leave" which may be utilized for care of a sick child or other 
personal circumstances. 
 
¶5. (U) Beginning in the 1990s, unions and employers have negotiated 
collective bargaining agreements which include employer and 
government subsidies for childcare.  In the last two years, 
government policies have greatly simplified the procedure for 
obtaining subsidized childcare.  As of January 1, 2007, this 
streamlined process requires employers to pay a higher social 
security tax into a social contributions fund, from which the 
government provides childcare subsidies; previously, most employers 
provided child care subsidies directly to their own employees. 
According to Stein, the government (through the social contributions 
fund) now pays a minimum of 33% of childcare costs for working 
families in the Netherlands.  This increases to a maximum of 95% of 
childcare costs for low-income families. 
 
Barriers to Participation 
 
¶6. (U) Lucia van Westerlaak, Policy Advisor for Women's Affairs, at 
the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV), the largest union 
confederation in the Netherlands, suggested that although the 
ability to work part-time has enabled more women to enter, and 
remain in, the workforce, there is still a need for a "paradigm 
shift."   Many women, as well as men, in the Netherlands feel that 
child care is primarily a woman's responsibility.  Several experts 
mentioned the "strong motherhood culture" in the Netherlands as a 
factor in the decision by many women to stay at home full or 
part-time while raising children.  According to the University of 
 
THE HAGUE 00000340  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
Utrecht researchers, many women would choose to stay home even if 
child care were completely free.   Importantly, Utrecht researchers 
and Dr. Salverda noted that once their children are grown, working 
mothers may increase their hours slightly but do not generally 
return to full-time work. 
 
¶6.  (U) Several experts indicated that despite its benefits and 
wide-spread acceptance, working part-time can be detrimental to 
women's careers.  For example, top-level management positions are 
nearly always full-time jobs.  While some government 
middle-management positions can be part-time, according to Stein, 
this is not usually the case in the private sector.  Van Westerlaak 
added that part-time workers are sometimes viewed as not having high 
levels of commitment to their companies. Ronald de Leij from the 
General Employers Association Netherlands (AWVN), the largest 
employers association in the Netherlands, supported this view in 
saying that use of leave over and over again does not help women 
advance in the workforce. 
 
Policy follows Practice 
 
¶7.  (U) Nearly all the experts interviewed by the GAO team commented 
that it is difficult to determine the actual impact of labor 
legislation on these issues, because the legislation nearly always 
follows practice.  Both part-time work and childcare practices began 
decades before the government passed legislation mandating such 
provision.  Stein stated that in the Netherlands, law generally 
adjusts to the prevailing social consensus. 
 
Blakeman