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"for the sake of the family" It's not for the sake of family. 80% of employed women work part time in the Netherlands. This includes singles, double income no

"for the sake of the family" It's not for the sake of family. 80% of employed women work part time in the Netherlands. This includes singles, double income no kids, middle aged women whose children have already left home. Only a small percentage of those working part time have young children. When you ask them about it, they try to justify not working more. "Daycare is so expensive" (in another post I try to demonstrate that this excuse doesn't fly), "Working environment is hostile to women" etc etc. If deep down inside people didn't feel at least a bit guilty about not working more, they wouldn't try to justify it. In reality, working part-time is a luxury. Americans prefer the luxury of a large home, two cars, air conditioning, maybe a swimming pool in the yard. Dutch people seem to prefer the luxury of few working hours and long vacations.

SCHiM 11y ago
Feeling guilty about something does not imply guilt in the absolute sense of the word. Also you've proven nothing about anything. I don't see how a single comment can account for any/all complaints that people in the Dutch workforce might have. Living (instead of working) is not a 'luxury', as other might say: work to live, don't live to work.
- wobbleblob 11y ago
  You're fighting a straw man, read my comment again without pre conceived bias. A luxury is anything beyond basic necessities like food and shelter. People in poor countries, working 12 hour work days for $10 per day or less, don't have the luxury of working part time. I'm totally fine with someone choosing to work fewer hours or more hours than I'm willing to do, as long as they're capable of supporting themselves. I'm not totally fine with people claiming they would like to work full time, but the government is making it impossible by not subsidizing daycare, out of some kind of conservative bias against working mothers, because that is simply a lie.
  - jchrisa 11y ago
    It's not a luxury if it makes you more productive to work less.

SCHiM 11y ago

Feeling guilty about something does not imply guilt in the absolute sense of the word. Also you've proven nothing about anything. I don't see how a single comment can account for any/all complaints that people in the Dutch workforce might have. Living (instead of working) is not a 'luxury', as other might say: work to live, don't live to work.

wobbleblob 11y ago
You're fighting a straw man, read my comment again without pre conceived bias. A luxury is anything beyond basic necessities like food and shelter. People in poor countries, working 12 hour work days for $10 per day or less, don't have the luxury of working part time. I'm totally fine with someone choosing to work fewer hours or more hours than I'm willing to do, as long as they're capable of supporting themselves. I'm not totally fine with people claiming they would like to work full time, but the government is making it impossible by not subsidizing daycare, out of some kind of conservative bias against working mothers, because that is simply a lie.
- jchrisa 11y ago
  It's not a luxury if it makes you more productive to work less.