Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 100, Issue 3, 2025

From vocational education to the labour-market: the impact of school-based or work-based practical training

In vocational education (mbo), job-specific skills are (partly) taught in practice at a training company, known as vocational practical training (Beroepspraktijkvorming, BPV). The mbo system offers two learning pathways, which differ in terms of the scope of BPV. In the work-based learning pathway (bbl), the scope of BPV is much larger than in the school-based learning pathway (bol). Mbo graduates who have been trained via bbl are also more likely to stay at the training company after completing their studies. This article examines to what extent a successful transition from education to the labor market is related to BPV through bol or bbl and the opportunity to work at the training company after graduation. The study focuses on mbo graduates from the 2014/2015 academic year. Information is available on their labor market position one year and five years after graduation. We find that bbl graduates are in a better labor market position shortly after graduation than bol graduates. Five years after graduation, their position is still better, but the gap has decreased. We found no evidence that the better position of bbl graduates is due to them receiving more offers from their training companies to stay on after graduation. However, the relationship between an offer from the training company and early career outcomes differs between graduates of bbl and bol. For bbl graduates, an offer from the training company, especially if accepted, is associated with a better short-term labor market position. For bol graduates, an offer is associated with a better labor market position in the longer term.

What does retirement preparation and retirement situation of non-western migrants look like? A qualitative study

Retirement poverty levels are high (40%) among the rapidly increasing group of first-generation non-Western migrants in the Netherlands. How do they deal with their economic position? We studied this question using 26 semi-structured qualitative interviews with retirees born in Morocco, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tunisia, and Turkey. Four aspects of dealing with retirement were covered and we discuss implications for scholars and policymakers: 1) Retirement knowledge; 2) Retirement preparation; 3) Social security benefits (AIO); 4) Social contacts. Our study reveals that non-Western migrants were not prepared for their retirement and are somewhat aware of their entitlement to social benefits.

The cumulation of adverse social consequences of the corona pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022) had profound consequences not only for public health but also for society at large. This article investigates nine distinct societal impacts of the pandemic: the significant decline in public trust in government during the crisis, growing dissatisfaction with the policies implemented in response to COVID-19, both received and anticipated forms of support, perceived economic insecurity, individuals’ ability to make ends meet, experiences of psychological distress, perceived threat posed by the virus, and the avoidance of healthcare, which led to reduced access to medical services compared to usual circumstances. This study outlines, firstly, the evolution of these societal impacts across five points in time (from April 2020 to September 2021), and secondly, identifies the population groups most adversely affected by the cumulative burden of these impacts. The analysis demonstrates—once again—that the pandemic did not serve as the ‘great equaliser’, as some may have initially posited. On the contrary, the most vulnerable segments of Dutch society—namely young people, individuals of lower socio-economic status, those with a non-Western migration background, and persons reporting poorer physical health—were disproportionately affected by the adverse societal repercussions of the pandemic.