The Netherlands is the first one-and-a-half earners per household economy in the world. How can this outcome be explained? Will it be a stable outcome, or will the Netherlands evolve towards a two-earners per household society? Three questions are answered in this article: Why is part-time work so popular in the Netherlands? How has the marginalisation of part-time jobs been prevented? Will the one-and-a-half model last? One major conclusion is that present developments are an example of 'the advantage of backwardness'. Something new was invented and became normalised, due to the almost total exclusion of married women and mothers from the labour market and welfare arrangements in the recent past. Another conclusion is that the increased social and cultural heterogeneity in life conditions and preferences in present-day society makes a development towards a two-earners per household model, as in Sweden, highly unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Mens en Maatschappij is the property of Amsterdam University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
