After years of decline, there are again more employees under 45 years old who are union members. Compared to 2023, there are now 36 thousand more 25- to 45-year-olds and 11 thousand more young people under 25 who are members. There are fewer members aged 45 or older. The number of members aged 45 to the state pension age decreased the most, but still half of the union members fall into this age group.
For the first time since 2017, the number of female union members is rising. There are now 558 thousand, nearly 9 thousand more than in 2023. The number of male union members has been declining for years. There are 868 thousand men who are union members, 24 thousand fewer than two years ago.
The total number of union members continues to decline, although the decrease is smaller than in previous years. At the end of March, over 1.4 million employees were union members, 15 thousand fewer than in 2023. This brings the number of union members to the lowest level since 1962.
According to the latest figures from the National Survey on Working Conditions (NEA) 2024 by CBS and TNO, older employees are more critical of unions than younger employees. Non-members aged 45 and older more often than younger non-members say that unions have little influence, membership is too expensive, and that unions do not properly represent employees interests.
Of employees under 45 years old, 61 percent have never considered becoming a union member; among older non-members, this is 45 percent.
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On Tuesday, November 4, 2025, the kickoff meeting of the National Dialogue will take place at Madurodam The Hague. It wa...
