Gap increasing between highly educated and less educated

There is an increasing gap between highly educated people and people with a lower education in the Netherlands. This gap will continue to grow larger if something doesn't change in the development in the labor market. This will result in a higher unemployment rate and poverty among low-educated people.

This is according to a report by the Central Planning Bureau and the Social and Cultural Planning Office, NOS reports. The report contains scenarios for the labor market. Both planning offices agree that the demand for highly educated people is growing faster than the number of highly educated people.

The researchers see several options the government could follow to reduce the gap. The government could encourage less educated people to further their education. The government could also make less educated people more attractive to employers by making the legal minimum wage not increase just as rapidly as the salaries for higher education. Additional wage costs could also be reduced for employees who have no or little education.

The government could also take measures to prevent highly educated people doing jobs that people with a lower education could do. For example, doctors do not have to do everything for patient care in their practice themselves - some of the tasks could be delegated to assistants or nurses.