What is work-life balance anyway?
Work-life balance in the Netherlands is measured by how people juggle every aspect of their life, such as work, personal commitments, parenting and other activities. This is very difficult when you work and when you are a parent (something which governments tend to assist with). Being able to effectively manage that affects your well-being tremendously.
Working
A massive part of what work-life balance is how much time you are spending working. Of course, working a lot and working really long hours is bound to take an effect on your health, both physically and mentally. According to OECD better life index, only 0.4% of employees work these long hours in the Netherlands, which is the lowest rate (the average is actually 11%). Youth rates of employment are also excellent, as the Netherlands has a low rate of youth unemployment, leading to lower levels of child income poverty that means that childhood satisfaction is amazing (it’s over 93% satisfaction for 11-15-year-olds).
Parenting
Although parenting dynamics are changing throughout the world, the Netherlands is dealing with it very well. Despite most women now working and dealing with childcare, their work-life balance is excellent. Parental education rate, fertility rates and employment rates are higher than the OECD average. The Dutch female employment rate of 69% is much higher than the average OECD of 60%, although lots of women in the Netherlands work part-time. Women also work on average two hours more at home than men do.
Other factors
In the Netherlands, the community is a big thing — 90% of Dutch people say that they know someone who they could count on if they were in crisis, which is higher than the average. In terms of politics, the Dutch engage well, with the Dutch voting rates being 12% higher than the average. In terms of other factors, the Dutch devote around 16 hours of their day participating in leisurely activities, eating (the best thing ever) and sleeping (also the best thing ever).
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