Self Employment in the Netherlands

This article is a review of the trends in and discussions about self-employment in the Netherlands. The group of self employed has grown rapidly . They form a very diverse group, ranging from high-skilled professionals with a high income to the self-employed who combine a few hours of entrepreneurship with a (parttime) job. Depending on the group of self-employed referred to, the attitude towards self-employment differs. Mostly, the self-employed are regarded as entrepreneurs who have deliberately chosen this type of employment both for the remunerations and the risks the market offers.Therefore, the government seems reluctant to create facilities for the self-employed other than the already existing (general) schemes. However, there is some debate concerning the position of the self-employed. A first debate concerns involuntary self-employment, especially in cases of false self-employment - the general attitude is that involuntary and false self-employment should be prevented. A second debate concerns the social security entitlements of the self-employed and their position within the field of industrial relations.