occupational disability

Last year 24 percent of Dutch aged 25 years or older had sleeping problems. That amounts to approximately 2.9 million people who had trouble sleeping last year. In 2017 in was 21 percent, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday.

People who identified themselves as unfit to work to the stats office were far more likely to have trouble sleeping than other groups. 58 percent of people with occupational disabilities had sleeping problems last year, compared to 19 percent of employed Dutch, 35 percent of unemployed Dutch, 32 percent of volunteers, and 23 percent of pensioners.

Employers' organization AWVN wants to make it mandatory for freelancers, entrepreneurs and other self-employed to have occupational disability cover. The AWVN will present this plan at a conference on Monday, Trouw reports.

Compulsory disability insurance for self-employed and freelancers has long been a point of dispute between employers and trade unions. Trade unions warn of the risk that the growing group of self-employed in the Netherlands form, while employers argued that self-employed should be able to decide for themselves how they spend their income.

Transavia pilots are on strike until noon on Monday, resulting in around 30 Transavia flights being delayed or canceled - 18 from Schiphol, six from Rotterdam and six from Eindhoven Airport. Only departures are affected by the strike. Arrivals are still on schedule, NU.nl reports.

The strike actually started at midnight, but the first affected flight was only scheduled to depart around 6:00 a.m. 

A symposium held in Amersfoort last week showcased technological solutions that can help people with occupational disabilities find and keep a job. The symposium included technologies ranging from an augmented reality app that can show people with mild intellectual disabilities exactly how to disassemble and repair a ship's propellor shaft, for example, to an exoskeleton that enables users with physical disabilities to move their limbs and increase their strength, NRC reports.

Two million women in the Netherlands are not economically independent and are therefore financially vulnerable, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday based on figures from 2016. About a million men find themselves in the same position.

Of the financially vulnerable men, 27 percent have paid work, but earn less than a welfare benefit. The same is true for 35 percent of financially vulnerable women. 28 percent of the men receive a welfare benefit and 21 percent receive an occupational disability benefit. Among the women it is 17 and 13 percent. 

Less than 20 percent of the 873 thousand freelancers and self-employed in the Netherlands have insurance against occupational disability, according to figures by Statistics Netherlands and TNO. 70 percent of this group don't have insurance because they can't afford it. 

A quarter of this group say they can carry this risk by themselves and just over 20 percent can fall back on their partner's income. 14 percent don't have insurance because they don't trust insurers. This is especially common in the construction industry, according to the stats office.

Temporary workers are more likely to be occupationally disabled than employees with a permanent contract, according to a report by top officials from all Ministries. Temps therefore claim disability benefits more often, the Volkskrant reports.