04-01-2022
Together with Ditwerktwel.nl we are committed to a fair distribution between care and work. This is our response to the coalition agreement.
Research by Ditwerktwel.nl shows that the three biggest obstacles to combining work and care are: expensive and complex childcare, poorly paid leave and poor financial recognition of informal caregivers. We are pleased that the first two points are being addressed by the new government.
The new government plans to make it more attractive to combine work and care. The breakthrough on childcare is historic. The complexity of the childcare allowance was a huge barrier for many parents and it is being removed. It is now important that the cabinet gets to work as soon as possible. Another important breakthrough is paid parental leave. The allowance for parents will be increased to 70 percent instead of the current 50 percent. This means that parents who have a child will be able to take leave in the first 8 years to care for their children and will be paid 70 percent of their salary.
Informal care is still an important topic that is largely missing from the new government's plans. We hope that more attention will be paid to this in the further elaboration of the plans. In addition, we call on the new cabinet to firmly establish relevant international treaties, agreements and the responsibilities of the Dutch government with regard to the division between work and care in the active emancipation policy that is proposed, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities in the labor market. These include the UN Women Convention, the Sustainable Development Goals (specifically SDG 5 Gender Equality and SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth), and ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment in the workplace.
Finally, ensure that gender equality and equal opportunities are a structural part of the planning, implementation and evaluation of the European Recovery Fund resources used to fund the plans set out in the Coalition Agreement and elsewhere.
