The Scope for Increasing Total Hours Worked

Dutch women who work long hours mostly prefer to work shorter hours whereas women who work short hours mostly prefer to work longer hours. This paper shows that the point where preferred and actual working hours are on average equal depends on individual characteristics. This heterogeneity is of interest to policy makers who are aiming to increase the total number of hours worked by women. The tool this paper develops is informative in two ways. First, it shows in what hours range we find individuals of a certain type who want to work longer or shorter hours. Second, it calculates the relative sizes of these groups to examine the scope for policy.