Towards an equal division of paid and unpaid work: The case of the Netherlands

Both the Netherlands and other European countries are involved in the trans ition from a breadwinner society towards a more individual-oriented society . What is unique in the Dutch case is the strong emphasis on the equal shar ing of time, between paid and unpaid work as well as between women and men. Despite the preferences among citizens for a more equal sharing of paid an d unpaid work, in practice it appears that general participation in paid la bour is being achieved more rapidly than general participation in unpaid la bour. The article looks at the obstacles and sticking points which stand in the way of the process of redistribution and investigates how this process can be accelerated. It includes an-empirical analysis on survey data for t he Netherlands with respect to both actual and preferred working hours for married and cohabitating men and women. The authors conclude that a consist ent government policy is lacking. As a consequence neither individuals nor organizations get signals that might contribute to those steps in the area of part-time work, child-care provision and leave facilities that would bri ng about a redistribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men.