Making part-time work a fully-fledged alternative: How the Dutch social partners responded to a dual labour market, 1966–1993

Abstract

The Dual Labour Market theory suggests that in collective bargaining, the perceived threat of outsiders leads to a more beneficial outcome for insiders, while the outsiders are further marginalized. The history of part-time employment in the Dutch labour market suggests a different path. After female labour force participation started to increase in the 1970s, the Netherlands witnessed a growing divide between core workers with a ‘standard employment relationship’, who were mostly male breadwinners, and part-time working women who were often underpaid and had little protection against dismissal and other social risks. Flexible part-time jobs, however, were not just desired by women who aspired to combine work and care, these jobs also fitted the needs of certain businesses, particularly in the retail sector. To prevent low wage competition between retail companies, unions in the retail sector started to demand equal treatment between part-time and full-time employees. To mitigate the burden of more expensive part-time jobs, however, several organizations promoted high-quality part-time work across the sectors so that part-time workers would not crowd in one sector. Eventually, this programme was meant to contribute to making voluntary part-time work a legitimate and fully fledged option in the Dutch labour market.