Three Perspectives on the Dutch Growth of Flexible Employment

The growth in flexible work arrangements has been more pronounced in the Netherlands than in most other western economies. Own account work, fixed-term contracts and contracts with variable hours all have become more prevalent since the early 2000’s. This paper describes the growth of flexible work arrangements from three perspectives. The institutional perspective reveals that the Dutch institutions provide incentives and possibilities for employers to circumvent institution-based risks and costs, and for workers to avoid taxes and social security contributions. The individual perspective shows that most workers nevertheless prefer an open-ended employment contract, which some groups manage to obtain more often than others. Over the life cycle the share of flexible employment contracts decreases among all cohorts and all social groups, but more so among the higher educated and men. Own account work, which is mostly a positive choice, increases over the life cycle. The job perspective shows that flexible work arrangements have grown in all sectors of the economy. In some sectors the increase is predominantly in own account work, in other sectors predominantly in flexible employment contracts, without a clear relation to sector characteristics.