Most holiday leave is taken in August, including among younger people
- August is the most popular holiday month, especially among people with children.
- Younger people work fewer hours in August than they do in other months.
- Most jobs done by younger people are in the retail and hospitality sectors, including in the summer.
Working people take the most holiday leave in the month of August. In the period 2023-25, the average amount of holiday leave taken in August was 11.9 hours per week. December is in second place, with an average 8.0 hours of holiday leave per worker per week, and July also scores high at 7.7 hours of holiday leave per week. November is the month in which the lowest number of hours of holiday leave are taken, at 2.2 hours per week. This is according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
| Maand | Average number of hours of holiday leave per week (leave hours per week) |
|---|---|
| January | 5.1 |
| February | 3.1 |
| March | 2.8 |
| April | 4.3 |
| May | 6.1 |
| June | 4.3 |
| July | 7.7 |
| August | 11.9 |
| September | 4.4 |
| October | 3.8 |
| November | 2.2 |
| December | 8.0 |
| 1)For the job with the most working hours (ages 15-74) | |
The average number of hours of holiday leave taken in August is highest among households with children. Among parents with children, the average was 15.9 hours of holiday leave per week, and for workers without children in their household, the figure was 9.9 hours of holiday leave per week. In the other months in which school holidays fall, the number of hours of holiday leave taken by workers who have children is significantly higher than among workers without children.
Workers without children are more likely to take holiday leave in June and September
Workers who do not have any children are more likely to take holiday leave just before and after the school holidays, in June and September. Since parents work more hours than people without children, they also take more hours of holiday leave in total. Not only is the number of leave hours higher, but the share of people taking at least one hour of holiday leave is also the highest in August. Among working people who have children, the share taking at least one hour of holiday leave in August was 44 percent, almost twice the average share per month.
| Maand | Households with children (leave hours per week) | Households without children (leave hours per week) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 5.7 | 5.1 |
| February | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| March | 2.7 | 3.0 |
| April | 4.8 | 4.2 |
| May | 7.3 | 5.6 |
| June | 3.8 | 5.0 |
| July | 9.6 | 7.0 |
| August | 15.9 | 9.9 |
| September | 3.4 | 5.3 |
| October | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| November | 1.9 | 2.5 |
| December | 8.8 | 7.8 |
| 1)For the job with the most working hours (ages 15-74) | ||
Younger people work around 18 hours a week in July
July is the month when most younger people are working. In the 2023–2025 period, nearly 1.7 million people in the 15–24 age group were in work in July. Younger people work more hours per week from April to July and from September to November than in the other months: around 18.5. Due to the higher number of younger people in work in July, the total number of hours worked by younger people is at its highest then. In August, younger people work the fewest hours: 16.1 per week, on average.
The number of hours worked increases with age
The average number of hours worked per week increases with age. The average for a 15-year-old in the 2023–2025 period was 7.6 hours per week in July. The figure was 25.0 hours among 24-year-olds, and those aged 25 and over worked an average of 27.0 hours per week in July. Due to the high number of hours of leave taken by workers with children, the number of hours worked in August is the lowest of any month among people aged 25 and over, at 23.0 hours per week. For all the other months, the average is 25 hours per week or more.
| Maand | ages 15-24 (hours per week) | ages 25-74 (hours per week) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 17.3 | 28.3 |
| February | 17.8 | 30.2 |
| March | 18.1 | 30.7 |
| April | 18.6 | 29.6 |
| May | 18.3 | 27.9 |
| June | 18.5 | 29.7 |
| July | 18.4 | 27.0 |
| August | 16.1 | 23.0 |
| September | 18.5 | 29.6 |
| October | 18.6 | 29.9 |
| November | 18.7 | 31.4 |
| December | 16.8 | 25.9 |
Most jobs done by younger people are in the retail and hospitality sectors, including in the summer
As is the case throughout the rest of the year, around 12 percent of young people in work in July are employed in retail as shop workers. 11 percent of them work as waiting staff or bar staff, which is slightly more than in other months. 4 percent work as cleaners, which is also slightly higher than in the other months of the year. Other jobs that a relatively high proportion of young people do are retail sales assistants (8 percent), kitchen assistants (4 percent), cashiers (4 percent) and healthcare assistants (3 percent). All these jobs are roughly as common in July as during the rest of the year.