employment

The Amsterdam Metropolitan Region developed strongly after the financial crisis and will continue to do so in the coming years, according to the Economic Outlook Metropolitan Region Amsterdam 2018 that the city of Amsterdam published on Wednesday. The city attributes the region's success to its "diverse and open economy in which both large and small companies can grow". 

The number of people in the Netherlands receiving welfare benefits continues to rise, Statistics Netherlands reported on Thursday. Between June 2016 and June 2017, this group increased by 12 thousand people to a total of 472 thousand welfare recipients. The increase is smaller than in previous years, the stats office added.

The College of Human Rights think poverty reduction should be higher up on the political agenda and the government should develop a national program to tackle poverty, they stated in a report issued on Wednesday. Human rights such as right to education, employment, health and housing are threatened by citizens' lack of monetary means.

The Netherlands had a budget surplus of 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product in the second quarter of this year, Statistics Netherlands reported on Monday based on seasonally adjusted figures for the second quarter of 2016.

Closing all power plants in the Netherlands will mean 1.9 billion euros in lost revenue for energy companies, but bring in 4.7 billion euros in extra wealth for the country, according to a study done by SEO Economic Research on behalf of environmental organization Natuur & Milieu

A total of 57 law changes will go into effect in 2016. Significant laws will come into play that affect everything from tax payouts, crowd funding & crowd financing, daycare subsidies and even a new language requirements for welfare benefits.

Men became less economically independent during the crisis. Last year 65 percent of men between the ages of 15 and 65 had work that paid an income at the minimum benefit level, compared to 70 percent in 2007. Among women, economic independence remained at mostly the same level.

The number of working women in the Netherlands has shown a stronger growth over the past decade than the number of working men. In the second quarter of this year there were a total of 3.8 employed women, compared to 3.4 million in 2005. The number of working women between the ages of 25 and 45 years showed a decrease however.

The increase in employment between March and May is almost entirely due to a rising number of women in the workforce, reports Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The number of working men remained stable during the period.

The leader of the FNV union, Ton Heerts, spoke against social services for freelancers in an interview with FD. He says self-employed people making use of disability, sickness and unemployment benefits undermines the entire social welfare system.

The number of jobs filled in the Netherlands will increase for the first time in three years in 2015, according to benefits agency UWV. It is a sign the economic recovery is beginning to take hold in the workforce, which will develop even further next year when growth in the labor market should increase further, UWV says.