More flex workers with a migration background

Even when taking into consideration the highest educational attainment level, flexible employment relationships are more prevalent among workers with a non-western migration background than among native Dutch workers. This difference is relatively large among workers with low and intermediate educational attainment. Among the lower educated, 46 percent of workers with a non-western migration background have a flexible employment relationship, against 33 percent of those with a native Dutch background. The difference between these two groups is smaller among the highly educated: 21 percent of non-western migrants in work have a flexible contract, versus 15 percent of native Dutch workers.

Net labour participation

The net labour participation rate, i.e. the share of persons aged 15 to 74 years in paid employment, amounts to 68 percent among people with a native Dutch background, versus 57 percent among those with a non-western background. Here as well, educational attainment plays a role. When looking at net labour participation for the same educational attainment levels, the disparities between persons with a non-western and a native Dutch background are slightly smaller. Only among people with intermediate educational attainment does the difference between both groups remain relatively large.

Some of those who are not in employment are job seekers and/or available to start at short notice. There are also people with part-time jobs who would like to work more hours. This unused labour potential is twice as large among persons with a non-western migration background (18 percent) than among those who are native Dutch (9 percent).

After the economic crisis

Of the four largest non-western migrant groups, the Surinamese are most likely to be in paid work (62 percent). At 54 percent, those least likely to have a job are persons with a Moroccan migration background. During the economic crisis, the drop in labour participation was relatively sharp among people with a non-western migration background. Participation of persons with a Moroccan, Surinamese or Turkish background has increased again in recent years, although not at the same rate in all groups. Among persons with an Antillean migration background, however, no increase was seen in the net labour participation rate: in 2017, it was at virtually the same level as in 2014.