The Netherlands Today
The Netherlands has a constitutional monarchy as their governmental system. Their head of state is their hereditary monarch, Queen Beatrix. Queen Beatrix has been the queen of the Netherlands from April 30th, 1980. The head of the government is the Prime Minister, Willem (Wim) Kok . The constitution in the Netherlands has been in place since 1814 until today. Everyone in the Netherlands has the right to vote once they turn 18. Elections are every four years; the electoral system being proportional representation. There are five major political parties in the Netherlands. First, there is the Labour Party, which makes up 24.3% of the voting population. Next, there is the Christian Democrat Appeal, which makes up 22.3% of the voting population. There is also the Liberal Party, which makes up 20.4% of the voting population. The Democrats 66 make up 16.5%. Lastly, there is the Green Left which is 3.5% of the population. In addition to these parties, there are other smaller political parties, which make up the remaining 13% of the voting population. The parliament in the Netherlands is made up of two legislative houses, the First Chamber, and the Second Chamber. The First Chamber has 75 members who are elected by the country indirectly. This Chamber has only the power of veto. The Second Chamber has 150 members who are elected directly by the voters. This Chamber controls the government and proposes legislation. The Judiciary system in the Netherlands is made up of justices appointed for life by the crown, selected from a list drawn up by the Lower House. There is no jury system in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, there are three categories of courts. These are the Cantonal courts, which handle minor civil and criminal cases, the District courts, which handle more important cases, and the Courts of appeal, which hear appeals against decisions of the district courts. Education is very important in the Netherlands. 75% of the schools in the Netherlands are private, but these are publicly funded. Education is required for all students ages 5 through 18 and is free of cost. The Primary education in the Netherlands consists of 8,310 schools with 1,605,000 pupils. It teaches students ages 4-12. Secondary education consists of 720 schools with 839,8900 students. This lasts for four years. Higher professional education is made up of 59 schools and 258,900 students. University education is optional; there are 12 schools with 174,000 students in the Netherlands. Expenditure on education makes up 11.5% of government spending. The Netherlands public communication consists of the press, radio, and television. There are three major national newspapers in the Netherlands. These are the De Telegraaf, which is a conservative newspaper, De Volkskrant, which is a Catholic newspaper, and the Trouw, which has Protestant origins, and originated in the World Wars. There are seven private organizations in the Netherlands, broadcasting on three national television channels. These channels are RTL4, RTL5, Veronica, and SBS6. There are also five national radio stations. The Netherlands has very high living standards. The average household in the Netherlands consists of 2.4 people. The average income for each household is $23,895. Food and drink, on average, takes up 18.3% of a household income. Health and hygiene, another 5.9%, clothing makes up 7.3%, transport 12.9%, sports and leisure, 11.3%, housing 25.4%, household appliances or furniture make up 6.7%. The birth rate is 12.7/1000 and the death rate is 8.7/1000. On average, there are 1.51 children per woman, and the infant mortality rate is 4.9 deaths per 1000 live births.
In an attempt to use a more familiar country as a comparison we will look at some French statistics. France's average income per household is $26,200 a year. The French spend 21.3% on housing, 18.3% on food and drink, 16.4% on transport and communications, and 13.2% on other goods and services. The labor force in the Netherlands consists of 6,063,000 employed people. 3,814,000 of these are men, and 2,249,000 are women. There are only 533,000 unemployed people in the Netherlands, or 8% of the population. In France, 11.7% of the population is unemployed. The main job fields in the Netherlands are industry, trade, consumer goods repair, health and welfare, leasing and commercial services, public administration, social security, and agriculture. In France, the main job fields are farming, handicraft workers, tourism, manual workers, and clerical workers. Many European countries are struggling with high unemployment. In general, Dutch unemployment is much lower than other European countries. Economists believe this is due to liberal labor laws in Holland compared to the rest of Europe. Dutch laws are much more similar to the United State's, which allows pretty free movement of labor between companies and industries with little restriction as well as the easy employment of temporary workers. In most of Europe the laws do not allow struggling companies to "shed" workers who would then move to growing newer enterprises. Economists feel the allowing of workers to easily be "shed" and re-hired makes the economy more efficient as workers will end up where they are needed most.
Destinations of Dutch Exports: Germany 29.0% Belgium and Luxembourg 13% France 11% Great Britain 10% Other EU Countries 17.5% Eastern Europe 3.2% Other European countries 2.9% Asia 5.4% North America 3.5% Other countries 4.5% Dutch Investments European Nation 15,657 (in millions of guilders) Japan 176 United States 1,598 Eastern Europe 1,598 Other countries 12,532