Die Holländer verlagern sich leise auf eine viertägige Arbeitswoche

To the proponents of a four-day week, there is almost no problem in modern life which the idea can’t solve — or at least ameliorate. Burnout? Tick. Gender inequality? Tick. Unemployment? Tick. Carbon emissions? Tick.

Conversely, opponents see only problems: reduced economic output; damaged business competitiveness; strained public services; a weakened work ethic.

But rather than argue over these predictions, or nitpick over the results of trials in individual businesses, why not look to the country that has already gone a long way down this road, without the rest of the world really noticing?

The Netherlands has the highest rate of part-time working in the OECD (see chart). Average working weekly hours for people aged 20 to 64 in their main job are just 32.1, the shortest in the EU, according to Eurostat. It has also become increasingly common for full-time workers to compress their hours into four days rather than spread them over five, says Bert Colijn, an economist at Dutch bank ING. “The four-day work week has become very, very common,” he told me. “I do work five days, and sometimes I get scrutinised for working five days!”

It all started with women. The Netherlands had a traditional male breadwinner model until women started to join the labour force in part-time roles in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, leading to what many called a “one-and-a-half” earner model. The tax and benefit system incentivised this arrangement. Over time, as these working patterns became normalised, working part-time has become more popular with men too, especially when they have young children.

How can the experience of the Netherlands inform the debate in other countries? For a start, it suggests the predictions of economic self-harm are overdone. In spite of its shorter average working hours per person, the Netherlands is one of the richest economies in the EU in terms of GDP per head. That is because shorter working hours are combined with relatively high productivity per hour, and a high proportion of people in employment: 82 per cent of working-age people in the Netherlands were in employment at the end of 2024, according to OECD data, compared with 75 per cent in the UK, 72 per cent in the US, and 69 per cent in France.

Women, in particular, have high employment rates in the Netherlands, especially compared with countries like the US, where average working hours are longer. In addition, people in the Netherlands tend to retire fairly late. It’s not that the population isn’t industrious, then — it’s rather that the work is spread out more across the population and the life course.

That said, it hasn’t led to equality between the sexes. Although it is becoming more common for children to have a “papa day” when the father does the childcare, rates of part-time working are still much higher for women. And although working part-time doesn’t mean having to accept a low-paid or insecure job in the Netherlands, it does still appear to hold back women’s careers. A report by the OECD in 2019 found that the Netherlands “performs poorly” in some dimensions of gender equality. Only 27 per cent of managers were women, for example — one of the lowest rates in the OECD.

The economy also suffers from labour shortages, especially in sectors such as teaching. This can lead to a vicious circle, whereby a staff shortage makes school hours more chaotic and unpredictable, which makes it harder for parents to commit to longer working schedules, even if they want to.

But there are no easy answers when it comes to education and care. If everyone worked a five-day week, there would be a requirement for many more childcare and elderly care workers, because fewer people would be available to care for their own families.

Colijn’s view is that the Netherlands is, in theory, holding itself back by working fewer hours. On the other hand, he adds, “I also wouldn’t want to propose any dystopian society where everyone is working more than Korean hours, just because it increases GDP.”

The experience of the Netherlands suggests that a four-day week isn’t nirvana. But nor is it a fast-track ticket to economic ruin. The real lesson, I think, is that it is perfectly possible to arrange and distribute work in many different ways. It is just about the trade-offs you are willing to make, both within the economic realm, and beyond it. Speaking of going beyond economics, one underplayed argument for the four-day week is surely this: children in the Netherlands rank as the happiest in the rich world.

I will also consider a 4days week, maybe like 30h/week once my wife starts to work again half-time after kids. I think then everybody can work but its not too stressful to get everything managed

I enjoy working but I exist for the people that I love.
Spending time with them is my ultimate priority and the only thing that brings me ultimate happiness.

It is wild how we have normalized that we should work for the most of our small lives.

Are they?

Quietly, very sneakily I dare to say, as I have yet to see this in real life around here.

Somebody will have to do household tasks. Cooking, cleaning, garden and so on. This used to be the woman. But when my girlfriend and I are both working we have two options. Both do a 4 day week, one day of household stuff and two days of weekend. Or both do a 5 day week and then subscribe to all sorts of nonsense to help us save time; gardener, cleaner, Hello Fresh, hire a painter every once in a while.

I think option two just isn’t financially viable. And doing stuff at home makes me happy and am aware the fact that we have a nice house/living surroundings.

are we? Too bad, cant read it 🤷🏻‍♂️

so I have to assume things: I guess it’s based on the average. Most women work parttime (3-4 days), while men work 4-5 days. Depends on if you have children and the flexibility/tradition of the employer. It’s also a tax thing, working 5 days often isn’t worth it

We’ll have a decision to make when AI really hits. Are the benefits to go to billionaires, or are we going to let people get a better work/life balance.

I’m not optimistic on how this will turn out.

remember, the 40h/d aka 5+-day work week was made up during a time, where it was NORMAL to have 1 Person working and 1 Person upkeeping their household

we dont live like this anymore, for a long time, thus a work reform is 100% neccessary across all of europe

Because you have to. Childcare is so expensive, it’s cheaper to stay home a day per week

2 kids in the kindergarten (3days/week) is like 2.5k€/month

inb4 corporate backed governments gaslight their citizens this is COMMUNISM.

The „average hours worked“ has a big problem: it doesn’t exclude all the part-time workers, like students. In many European countries (most?), no one ever works 16 or 24 hours a week. In the Netherlands, that’s normal for students, which is why the employment rate is so high. This brings the average down, but if we’re talking about a normal adult, it’s typical to work full-time.

‘Quietly’

Why are they doing it quietly? 😅 Let everyone know so maybe others will follow

Does this apply for the MBO aswell? Would be nice.

Which industries are leading the way here?

Currently at 36h (4×8 +1×4). Planning to switch to 4×8 in 1 or 2 years (office job). Generally speaking for most of my colleagues you start with 40 hours when you are younger (need the money) and reduce hours when you get older and you make more money. Luckily our company is extremely flexible with contracts. You can do:
5×8, 4×9, 4×8, 3×8 or like me 36 hours every week or 40 one week and 32 the next week.. And all you do is fill in a form and that’s it.

moving

A 4 day work week isn’t that simple you have a manual labor job in production or a warehouse. There are physical limitations to how fast you can perform your work. If we are talking about 4 8hour days with the same wage as a 5 8hour days, then this is going to actually make things worse.

The employer will just expect you to do all the work in less time than before. So more work pressure and possible safety concerns that emerge from having to work faster.

Yea I just talked to a guy who said he’s managed to negotiate 4 workdays but get full 5 days benefits. He’s working in logistics and he’s very happy to work like so because he loves to travel.

I’d like to have the same here in France if possible, even if I had to work more each day.

I’d be all for this in the U.S. if they’d give us healthcare for part time work. I work too much so I don’t go bankrupt on a routine medical procedure. Still don’t know why my country routinely votes against our best interests.