Many expats come to the Netherlands for the excitement of living internationally, but many end up staying for a completely different reason. As soon as you get a contract in the Netherlands, you’ll realize that this country won’t get you the get-rich-quick American dream. Instead, it has something better: the elusive work-life balance.
Yes, that’s right. It is possible to achieve more of a work-life balance in the Netherlands.
While working less may not be the goal for everyone, it was for me when I moved here. I no longer wanted to spend 50-plus hours at a desk even if it brought in a big paycheck. “Why make so much money if you have no time to enjoy its benefits?” I thought. When I moved to the Netherlands, I saw people at cafes at 2 o’clock in the afternoon on a sunny day.
Coming from an American workplace, my biggest question was:
“Are these people not working?”
A work culture designed for humans
On sunny days, people flood the city centers, parks and outdoor cafes. During lunch hours, people will stroll with sandwiches in hand, talking to colleagues. While some people do grind away at their desks in the Netherlands, that’s not the majority. New expats staying longer than 5 p.m. will be seen as odd or too “American” by many companies.
Leaving your desk at closing time, not having work email on your phone and not responding at all hours of the day … these behaviors are not seen as red flags. They are normal behaviors of the Dutch workforce.
Now, here’s one of the biggest secrets of achieving a work-life balance here: One of the biggest perks of the Dutch work system is the ability to work part-time. Not only is it a possibility, but it is done often.
The interesting thing is that part-time work schemes are not only used by parents but also by young people. Part of this is due to the culture, but I also believe a large part lies in the fact that health insurance is not tied to your work as a benefit.
I fully took advantage of this mindset. In my mid-30s, my manager forwarded me a contract renewal for a 40-hour week. I told her that I’d rather have a 34-hour contract, working only four days per week. That wasn’t a problem and I wasn’t marked as an “unmotivated” employee at my next review.
I see many other single, non-parents taking advantage of not working a full 40-hour week. I was not by any means unique, but of course, it is the most common for parents.
Child-friendly
Many parents take a “mama day” or a “papa day,” spending one day home per week with their child. You’ll see people include their workdays in their email footer so people know not to schedule meetings with them on those days or know not to expect a quick response to an email on their day out of the office.
Parents have the right to take this leave and they can take up to 26 weeks.
“Employees with children aged up to eight have the right to parental leave in the Netherlands. This also applies to stepparents, foster parents and adoptive parents. The leave applies to both parents. They can get at most 26 times the number of hours they work per week, per child,” says a Dutch governmental website on leave schemes.
The Netherlands is not — by far — the best country in Europe for parental leave. (Germany, Bulgaria and Scandinavia are some of the places that give better leave.) After all, only up to 9 weeks of the 26 weeks are paid at 70 percent, then zero after.
However, Dutch parents still put a lot of value on this leave and take advantage of it.
Part-time teachers
Even in the education system, teachers can work part-time as co-teaching classes is common. I saw this firsthand as my child has always been taught by two teachers, one teaching three days a week and the other two.
Moving to the Netherlands was a refreshing change from the workplace dynamics that I experienced in the U.S. When I left more than a decade ago, a part-time professional job was rare and face time was extremely important. From what I hear, not much has changed, although COVID did usher in an age of remote work.
So, if you want to move to the Netherlands, don’t do it for the money. You can make better money elsewhere. Instead, move for the work-life balance.
I don’t think you’ll ever regret that.
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Read more about the Netherlands in Dispatches’ archives here.
Lane Henry is an accidental long-term expat. She is an American who came to the Netherlands for two years—or so she thought. She has now lived in the Netherlands and explored Europe for over a decade.
