the government is [not] somehow stopping people from working more.
but also:
the Netherlands [...] has enacted part-time-friendly policies
I’m skeptical that both of these claims are straightforwardly true. Due to the nature of labor law, a policy that is friendly to shorter work-weeks will in practice also be unfriendly to longer work-weeks.
In particular, my uninformed guess is that a Dutch employer and employee seeking to formalize a 40-hour-per-week working arrangement will encounter obstacles or costs that wouldn’t arise for a <35-hour-per-week arrangement. I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
You claim that:
but also:
I’m skeptical that both of these claims are straightforwardly true. Due to the nature of labor law, a policy that is friendly to shorter work-weeks will in practice also be unfriendly to longer work-weeks.
In particular, my uninformed guess is that a Dutch employer and employee seeking to formalize a 40-hour-per-week working arrangement will encounter obstacles or costs that wouldn’t arise for a <35-hour-per-week arrangement. I’d be happy to be proven wrong.