The number of Dutch couples in which both partners work part-time has doubled in the last 10 years, figures from national statistics agency CBS have shown.

In 2024 some 419,000 couples both had part-time jobs compared to 229,000 in 2014. The couples in which just one partner worked fell by a quarter to 778,000 in the same period.

Both partners also work roughly the same hours, the CBS found, particularly in couples who worked 20 to 35 hours a week. Higher incomes are making the part-time option more attractive, the CBS said.

According to employers’ organisation VNO-NCW, more people are working part-time because of the tax burden on middle incomes, which makes working extra hours less financially worthwhile.

More people work part-time in the Netherlands than anywhere else in Europe, although it has the highest net labour participation rate, putting the number of hours worked above the European average.

According to union FNV, a four-day week is “good for workers, employers and society. There is more time for leisure activities and it results in more energy and productivity”.

Professor of labour relations Paul de Beer said the desirability of a couple both working part-time is a matter for politicians. “In the Netherlands, this is largely a matter of free choice and that is good. There is no economic law that says you have to work a certain number of hours,” he told the Parool.

De Beer agrees with the FNV that part-time work is not detrimental to the economy. “We have been doing it for decades and we are still one of the richest countries in the world,” he said.

Labour economist Ronald Dekker said that both partners putting in the same number of hours is a shift away from the “one and a half salary model” in which one partner works full-time and the other part-time.  “This is very good for the economic independence of women,” he said.