Comment by m000
8 hours ago
"Any job you can do is eligible" is highly inaccurate. I went through this after my PhD funding in NL ran out, which is considered a layoff. I only had to demonstrate that I made some applications to relevant jobs. No pressure whatsoever to go work in some unrelated job.
Yes, the UWV [1] unemployment benefits are not perpetual (I don't recall the exact formula used to calculate the eligibility length). But even after your unemployment benefits stop, depending on the level of your savings, you may be eligible for receiving other benefits (e.g. health insurance and rent).
Overall, it is a very pro-worker system, with the major benefit of it being not "free money" (as US readers may assume), but the decreased leverage your employer has over you.
Do note that you could be in the active group of an experiment if you had WW in the past 5-6 years. There was (is?) an experiment where they check some people less and even not force you to look but let you work it out on your own.
> Overall, it is a very pro-worker system
Having had to deal with parts of the Dutch system, I'm positive it's rigged against you. And you pay for it, it's literally a tax (WW premie, part of the "werknemersverzekeringen" aka employees insurance).
It was before 2020, so I don't think there was any experiment. I had to regularly submit proof of job applications, and had to meet with UVW in person a few times.
The Dutch system is definitely rigged in the health insurance part, where they more-or-less applied US-style privatization.
But unemployment benefits are quite ok. Yes, we pay for it, the money have to come from somewhere. But it's not that your employer would handle you the money if you didn't have WW. And it's definitely better and more stress-free than GoFundMe campaigns (either as a donor or a recipient). And, again, the tilt in the employment power dynamics in your favour is priceless.