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Around three in ten young people in the Caribbean Netherlands are employed, reports The Daily Herald.
It is more difficult for young inhabitants on the islands than those who live in the European part of the Netherlands to combine education with a side job. Half of young people in Bonaire and St. Eustatius are not looking for a job and not available to start work. In Saba this is even the case for 64 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds. In the Netherlands, nearly six in ten young people have a part time job and one quarter are not avail able for the labour market and not looking for work.
It emerged from the Caribbean Netherlands Labour Force Survey, which was published by Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) in the Netherlands on Wednesday, that it is much less common for young people in the Caribbean Netherlands to have a part-time job alongside their education in comparison with their counterparts in the European Netherlands. Sixteen percent of young people studying in Bonaire work while completing their studies. In Statia and Saba hardly any young people who go to school have a job. In the Netherlands on the other hand, over half of young people in education also have a small job.
Being in education is also one of the main reasons for people on the islands not wanting to or not being available for work. In Saba this is the most relevant reason. Relatively many medical students live there and attend Saba University School of Medicine. The difference between the European and the Caribbean Netherlands is partly caused by the fewer number of part-time jobs available in businesses, such as supermarkets and restaurants on the islands.
Bonaire is an exception in this respect as it has a significant hotel and restaurant sector. However, many jobs in these sectors are taken by employees older than 25. While fewer young people in the Caribbean have a parttime job compared with their peers in the Netherlands, labour participation in older age brackets, especially in the 45 to 74 group is much higher on the islands. Around 65 per cent of older people in the Caribbean Netherlands are employed, compared with 55 per cent in the Netherlands.