An article in Financial Times by Simon Kuper reveals the conundrum in which the Netherlands finds itself. For the Netherlands, probably the most country most keyed into a globalized economy, to keep growing it needs more workers and the country has nowhere to put more people.
With hindsight, the Netherlands was too well-suited to the era of globalisation. The trading nation with Europe’s biggest port experienced 26 years of unbroken economic growth until 2008, then a world record. Now it tops ETH Zurich’s KOF Globalisation Index as the world’s most globalised country.
And so its population mushroomed. When the counter hit 14 million in 1979, Queen Juliana said, “Our country is full.†In 2010, Statistics Netherlands said the population would probably never reach 18 million. Today it’s 17.7 million and rising. The country has 507 people per sq km, nearly five times the EU’s average. Worse, the quantity of liveable land will shrink due to a paradoxical mix of rising seas and droughts damaging the foundations of houses.
But the Dutch economy’s demand for new workers seems insatiable. Eighty-four per cent of employers report labour shortages, one government study found. Recruitment signs are almost standard in shop windows. Employers even offer new recruits free holidays.Â
The mode age in the Netherlands appears to be around 50. With 60% of the labor force working part-time or in temp positions it seems pretty clear that its government policies have had some perverse consequences.
507 people per sq km means density could go up by quite a bit.
As a reference; Hong Kong has population density of 7140 people per sq km, but still over 50% of the land is farmland or parks. Bangladesh has population density of 1265 people per sq km.
Sea level rise is about 0.14 in/yr. We are still recovering from the Little Ice Age, and the Middle Ages were warmer than today; the period of Roman expansion was warmer than the Middle Ages; and the Minoan Empire flourished during still higher temperatures. The warmest part of the Holocene was around 8,000 BC. The Dutch won’t need the little boy with the finger in the dike anytime soon.
The Dutch government has a plan to confiscate almost a third of all Dutch farms, and to convert them to high rise apartment buildings. One of the excuses is the emission of nitrogen oxides from fertilized fields. The real reason is the importation of several million workers from Third World countries. The universal experience is that such immigrants, lacking skills, end up on welfare.
Netherlands is similar to Southeast Louisiana in that “land” shown on a map is often not perceptible land at all and at all times, it can be wetlands, polder and flood plains subjected to controlled flooding. The dikes, dams and drainage canals contribute to subsidence that started when peat was first mined from the coastal plains centuries ago. A majority of the Netherlands is already below sea level.
Let me get this straight. It was the policies of the government that lead to so much growth and need for workers that 84% of employers report labor shortages? If you are complaining about people working part time their LFPR is 79% (US 62%). Household income (PPP) is at 51 k vs US 66 k. I would have to think about it but I am not sure that in return for having a much larger percentage of the population in the work force and a lt fo them working part time, which means average household income goes down, is such an awful thing.
Steve