Labour market position of women during the current recession in the Netherlands.

Throughout this paper, an attempt is made to outline the difference between men and women on the labour market during the current recession in the Netherlands. At the end of 2008 a strong economic downturn set in in the Netherlands. This economic downturn has not been without consequences for the labour market. The aim of this research is to get insight in the factors that play a role in the possible disadvantages of women on the labour market and how to deal with this possible arrear. The transitional labour market (TLM) concept, which is based on observed changes in the composition and dynamics of the labour market over the last years, is used to investigate exclusionary transitions of men and women. Data have been gathered from 2008-2012 on the five important life domains of the TLM-framework: (1) Employment, (2) unemployment, (3) education, (4) private households and (5) labour disability. These data have given insight in the developments on these domains and about exclusionary transitions of men and women. The most striking findings are as follows: the unemployment rate for men has been rising faster than for women during the current recession, due to the different working areas of men and women. Also it can be seen that the unemployment rate of the youth is much higher in comparison with the elderly. During the current crisis more people decide to study in all levels of education. Women are less likely to get unemployed after their study than men because of their higher education level. Concluding women seem to do relatively well during this recession. However, there still is a big gap between men and women on the labour market. An important issue for politicians is the economic dependency of women. To ensure the growth of women and to prevent a decline in the employment rate of women, the politicians in the Netherlands have to ensure that childcare costs are more fairly distributed between the government, employers and parents. Thereby an environment must be created so that women can return to the labour market after their maternity leave without any consequences for their career so that their talent is not lost, or worse that they are making an exclusionary transition out of the labour market.