Well-being ‘here and now’: labour and leisure time

Labour and leisure time concerns the quantity and quality of work and the balance between work and leisure time. Paid and unpaid work gives people control over their lives and helps them develop skills and a sense of value and usefulness to society. Leisure time contributes to health, life satisfaction and social relationships.

• A high share of people in the Netherlands are in employment and the number of hours worked is increasing gradually; however, the hourly wage of workers in 2024 was around the same as it was in 2009 after correcting for inflation.
• Company revenues are being channelled more towards profit and less towards workers’ pay, in relative terms.
• Ever more people have a higher education degree, and ever fewer have other levels of education.

Well-being 'here and now'

Labour and leisure time

0.5%

of the labour force had been unemployed for one year or more in 2025

1st

out of 27
in EU
in 2025

Long-term unemployment

73.2%

of population aged 15-74 in 2025

1st

out of 27
in EU
in 2024

Net labour participation

38.2%

of 15-74 year-olds have succesfully completed tertiary education in 2025

7th

out of 27
in EU
in 2024

Level of education achieved: HBO, university

73.9%

of the population over 18 are satisfied or very satisfied in 2025

6th

out of 26
in EU
in 2022

Satisfaction with leisure time

5.63

vehicle hours lost per capita in 2024

Time lost due to traffic congestion and delays

79.2%

of employed persons aged 15-74 are satisfied or very satisfied in 2025

7th

out of 27
in EU
in 2017

Satisfaction with work (employed)

Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being

Current labour market tightness means there are plenty of opportunities for work in the Netherlands, even though labour market tension is no longer increasing. The Netherlands’ vacancy rate was the highest in the EU in 2024 (1st out of 17 countries), but did decline in 2025 (SDG8.2). For years, the Netherlands has had the highest net labour participation in the EU-27. Almost three-quarters of the population were in paid employment in 2025. Long-term unemployment (longer than one year) remains low at 0.5 percent and is trending downwards. Compared to other EU countries, the Netherlands has the lowest long-term unemployment.

The level of remuneration for work has remained stable in recent years. Adjusted for inflation, the real hourly wage of workers in 2024 was among the highest in the EU-27. At the same time, however, real hourly wages have not increased since 2009 (SDG8.2). Due to rising profits for companies in the machinery and energy sectors, there appears to have been a sustained reduction in the labour income share relative to previous years (around 70 percent since 2021, compared to around 74 percent before). This means that labour income as a proportion of total income is declining while corporate profits are increasing (SDG8.1).

Satisfaction with various aspects of work and perceived work-life balance are also important components of well-being ‘here and now’. Job satisfaction is high in the Netherlands: around 79 percent of workers were satisfied or very satisfied in 2025. Despite this high degree of satisfaction, an increasing share of the working population are experiencing mental fatigue as a result of work. However, the proportion of people saying they are unhappy with their work-life balance is falling (SDG8.2). People are also satisfied with the amount of leisure time they have: in 2025, 74 percent reported being satisfied or very satisfied.

Labour market tightness is easing. In 2025, more people were worried about keeping their job than in 2024, but in the medium term workers’ concerns about job security are diminishing. The proportion of people in employment who say they can regularly make independent decisions about how they carry out their work is no longer rising, and actually decreased between 2024 and 2025. In 2025, 64 percent of workers aged 15 to 74 reported being able to regularly make their own decisions about how to do their work, compared to 65.5 percent in 2024 (SDG8.2).

Distribution of well-being: society shows that in general, those with a higher professional or university education achieve higher well-being in many areas of society. Compared to other EU countries, people in the Netherlands in 2024 were more likely to have completed a higher education degree. In 2025, this share further increased to 38.2 percent of 15 to 74-year-olds, while the proportion of this age group without a basic educational qualification was in decline. Other forms of education are also important: the number of people whose highest level of education completed is secondary education (MBO 2-4, HAVO or VWO) decreased to 36.1 percent. Compared to other EU countries, this share is small.

In terms of participation in various forms of education, the picture is stable: around 96 percent of children from the age of 4 are in pre-school education, around 7 percent of young adults drop out of school early, and around 23 percent of Dutch people aged 25 to 74 were attending some form of education in 2024 in the four weeks prior to being surveyed. All these indicators are stable (SDG 4).

People in the Netherlands are highly digitally skilled compared to residents of other EU countries: in 2025, the Netherlands led the EU-27. Nearly 84 percent of inhabitants aged between 16 and 74 have at least basic digital skills. Digital skills are becoming ever more important for social and economic participation. A large proportion of the Dutch population (almost 84 percent) is satisfied with the educational opportunities available to them. However, the 2022 PISA survey did show a decline in the maths and reading skills among 15-year-olds in the Netherlands. The latest figures are part of the PISA survey, which is conducted every four years in OECD countries (SDG 4).