In Holland, one of the happiest countries in the world, most people work part-time.

It seems there is an ideal place to live in and it is not located in our dreams, but in Holland. Besides considering themselves the happiest people on Earth (based on social benefits, individual freedom, life expectancy, low levels of corruption and GDP per capita), Dutchmen are among the people with the highest minimum wages in Europe (€ 1501,8) and they do not even need to work very hard to earn it. As a matter of fact, over half of the country’s inhabitants work part-time.

According to the statistics agency, Eurostat, Holland has the highest part-time employment rate in Europe (50.6%), way above Switzerland (37.9%), Germany (27.6%), United Kingdom (26.8%) or France (18.9%). This means that, in average, the majority of Dutch people only work four hours a day.

However, such a relaxed philosophy is not only a matter of attitude: in 2000 the Dutch Parliament enacted a bill that enables workers to fix their working day, as long as the employer is ok with it. As the country’s regulation does not state the number of working hours per week –even for those who have full time jobs- it is estimated that Dutchmen work an average of 36 to 38 hours. This is way below the 48 hours per week that Argentinian regulations establish as a maximum.

The strong presence of part-time work is mainly due to gender causes. Most part time jobs are filled by women (76.6%), while men only fill 26.8% of these jobs. The reason is that women started accessing the labour market about 30 years ago.

According to The Economist, women did not started working until the 1980’s for several reasons. Firstly, they did not need to replace men after neither of the 20st century’s World Wars. Secondly, Christian morality strongly dominates Dutch politics. And thirdly, high standards of living mean there is no need for a second income in households.

Nevertheless, though a large number of women in Holland prioritize having free time to dedicate to their families, this causes strong wages’ inequalities. Though the gap has been reduced over the years, recent statistics state that men earn 16% more than women.

Source: http://www.apertura.com/