Netherlands has the most young people with side jobs

In the Netherlands, 77 per cent of young people aged 15 to 29 are working, reports Statistics Netherlands (Dutch acronym: CBS). Considering the EU, Denmark comes second, with 57 per cent of young people occupied. Greece is at the tail end, with only 18 per cent of young people working.

In the Netherlands, 74 per cent of young people study and work at the same time. CBS does not have current figures to compare the Netherlands to other European countries, but it mentions similar figures coined by Eurostat in 2022, which show many more young people are working in the Netherlands (73 per cent) compared to other EU countries. The percentage is also high in European countries that are not part of the EU, such as Iceland, Switzerland and Norway.

Students
There are no clear explanations for this striking difference, but researcher Frans Kaiser, from the University of Twente, observes that the difference is smaller if only students are considered.

Dutch students are more likely to continue living with their parents and tend to work less than 20 hours a week, so we're often talking about little side jobs, which are less of a custom in the rest of Europe, where students are older on average and more likely to live on their own, with or without children. When they work, they are likely to work more hours. 

Not negligible
It's rare for young people in the Netherlands to neither study nor work. Less than five per cent of young people do that. The EU average is 11 per cent while almost 20 per cent of young people in Romania are idle. The country has a high rate of youth unemployment and also fails to keep young people in school.

Young people (at school or university) who were active in the labour market in 2022, by country. Dark brown: employed, brown: seeking employment, light brown: not seeking employment. Sources: HOP, CBS, Eurostat.