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Regional discrepancy in female labour supply

08 Mar '06
3 min read

Statistics Netherlands announces that there are large regional differences in female labour supply, whereas male labour supply is much more evenly spread across the country.

In the period 2002/2004, there was a 15 percentage points gap between the top and bottom values indicating female labour supply. There is a strong link between labour supply and age and education level. After correction for these determinants, regional differences, though reduced, still remain considerable.

Female labour supply lower in rural areas:
In the period 2002/2004, over 63 percent of women in the 15-64 age bracket belonged to the labour supply. Regional differences in female labour supply ranged from 55 percent in COROP area Other Groot-Rijnmond to 70 percent in Amsterdam. The following (rural) regions scored below average: Veluwe, the province of Zeeland and one or more COROP areas in the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen, and Overijssel.

Lower supply of labour in regions with a high proportion of older people:
Young and older women are less active on the labour market. Indeed, regions with a comparatively large young or older population usually have a low female labour supply. Large parts of the provinces of Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, Zeeland and Limburg, for instance, have considerable numbers of older residents. In urban regions like Greater Amsterdam and The Hague, the labour supply of women in the 50-64 age category was above average.

Many highly-educated women in the Randstad area:

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