The government is increasingly calling on people to work as informal caregivers, volunteers or in social or military service in addition to their (paid) job. This is the conclusion of the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) in a report published on Friday based on ten election manifestos. For example, people are expected to do more (paid) work, but at the same time combine this with informal care and volunteer work.
The tension this creates is also called ‘combination pressure’ and it is an issue that, according to the SCP, requires “serious attention”: the number of workers with burnout complaints has increased by almost 50 percent in the past ten years, it writes. RIVM.
Financial incentives insufficient
When parties speak out about how people can combine their work with ‘participating’ in society, election manifestos focus a lot on financial incentives. For example, GroenLinks-PvdA, PvdD, PVV and SP argue for financial support or tax credits for informal caregivers.
“The assumption is that people are financially driven,” the researchers write. “However, money is not people’s only consideration, especially when it comes to personal matters such as caring for children or balancing obligations and free time.”
Shorter work week
According to the SCP, parties recognize that there are limits to the degree of ‘participation’ in society and make proposals to alleviate this so-called combination pressure. But a vision of “a real weekly workload, which includes formal and informal tasks as well as free time, is missing,” the researchers said. This does not eliminate the risk of overload due to the plans of political parties.
According to the SCP, the key lies in making different roles more combinable, for example in the form of care and parental leave. Social roles can get in the way: men are not expected to take care leave, or when employers who expect to hire a woman automatically create a part-time vacancy.
However, the PvdD and the SP come up with “a different sound”, the researchers write. These parties advocate a shorter working week. At SP this is linked to more peace and more time for each other.
The SCP studied the election manifestos of ten parties: BBB, CDA, D66, GroenLinks-PvdA, JA21, NSC, PvdD, PVV, SP and the VVD. The advisory body did this on the basis of the current number of seats in the House of Representatives and the Polling Guide, which combines the polls by I&O Research and Een Nooit.
Live blog
Election debate
Who is still talking about Wilders? Read back how the RTL debate went
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 items give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.