Does the Life Course Savings Scheme Have the Potential to Improve Work–Life Balance?

Abstract

To improve individuals' work-life balance, trade unions, employers' organizations, governments and the European Commission currently promote a life course perspective in activating labour market policies. In 2006, the Life Course Savings Scheme (Levensloopregeling) was introduced in the Netherlands, which aims to increase labour participation and to improve the work-life balance over the life course. What can we learn from the Dutch case? In 2006, actual participation in the scheme was with 6% much lower than expected. Participation rates were higher among males, full timers, older employees, the higher-income groups and persons with a partner. However, our multivariate analyses of data for over 500,000 civil servants show that the higher participation rates of males, full timers and older employees are related to the higher earnings of these groups, and that after control for earnings, participation is higher among females, part timers and the young. This indicates that the scheme has a potential to contribute to the work-life balance over the life-cycle. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2009.

Leave saving options over the life course – only for the highly skilled? Evidence from two German best-practice companies

“…As a consequence, higher rather than lower income groups, employees with assets rather than employees without, men rather than women, and full timers rather than part timers, and older rather than younger employees, have the financial scope to benefit from this scheme (Kösters 2007; see also Den Dulk and van Doorne Huiskes 2008). A more recent study showed that the higher participation rates of some of these groups were related to the higher earnings (Delsen and Smits 2010). After controlling for earnings, the participation turns out to be higher among females, part timers and the young.…”

“…Regarding the 'transitional' approach, many researchers and policymakers have repeatedly stressed the importance and potential of options for accumulating longer periods of leave (see e.g. Anxo and Boulin 2006: 331;BMFSFJ 2006;Delsen and Smits 2010;European Foundation 2012a: 5). Countries in which such options exist are Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland, France and (until January 2012) the Netherlands (Anxo and Boulin 2006;European Foundation 2012b).…”

“…As early as the 1990s, it was a declared political goal in the Netherlands to encourage accumulation of time credits. The Dutch Leave Saving Scheme ('verlofspaarregeling') (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005) created important landmarks for life-course policy (Delsen and Smits 2010). Under the scheme, employees were able to deposit part of their income or part of their working hours, which could then be cashed in exchange for paid leave at a later date.…”

Work, health and the commodification of life's time: reframing work–life balance and the promise of a long life

“…The Netherlands introduced a scheme of life-saving accounts in 2006 that permits workers to deposit up to 12 per cent of their salary tax-free into an account to be used at a later date to finance additional periods of unpaid, parental or study leave. In this way it is hoped that individuals will be able to modulate their working time better so as ‘to ease the combination of work and other activities over the life-cycle’ (Delsen and Smits 2010: 584).…”

Non-Standard Employment and Labour Force Participation: A Comparative View of the Recent Development in Europe

“…30 See, for instance, Delsen/ Smits (2009), Roman (2006, Wotschack/ Hildebrandt (2008). 31 Another reason for the discrepancy between 'nominal' and 'effective' employment rate could be institutional.…”