Measures for the betterment of the labor market position of non-standard working regimes in the cultural and creative sector in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article reflects on possible effects on income and earning capacity of creative workers of three measures that were recently introduced or that are being discussed to combat the vulnerability of non-standard working conditions in the cultural and creative sector in the Netherlands: the Balanced Labor Market Act, the Fair Practice Code for Culture, and a call for certain unified agreements, for instance in the form of minimum tariffs for self-employed workers. Each of these measures separately has its merits and the intention to improve working conditions. Therefore, the power lies in their joint introduction, which combines general legislation with a moral benchmark and subsector-specific solutions. However, in this combination several unintended consequences loom, such as the possible separation between professional and amateur creative workers, a higher threshold for talent to enter the sector, threats to artistic and aesthetic innovation, and the prioritization of fairness over equality.

How does institutional context shape work-related functionings for regular and self-employed workers? A contextualised application of the capability approach to Belgium, France and the Netherlands

“…Here, 17.1% of the individuals are self-employed, while people tend to work for fewer years in the same firm (11 years, on average). The slightly higher tendency for Dutch workers to opt for self-employment may be due to a lower differential between self- and regular employment (De Wit and Van Winden, 1989), tax incentives in favour of entrepreneurship offered by the government (Van Andel and Loots, 2021), as well as the presence of many organisations, other than trade unions, providing ad hoc support to self-employed workers. The larger inclusion of self-employed workers in systems of active labour market policy based on reskilling, as well as in welfare systems may make it more attractive for individuals to opt for self-employment as a voluntary and positive form of employment.…”

Cultural entrepreneurship in times of change and crisis

“…We aim at increasing the understanding of ways by which the valuation of artistic practice during these specific circumstances affects cultural entrepreneurs in the sense of sustaining a position as an artist. We do so by studying the creative industries in the Netherlands, a country where the arts and culture sectors have some of the highest percentages of self-employment (van Andel and Loots 2021). This means that these general effects are more apparent in this specific empirical context.…”