In the third quarter of 2017 the unemployment rate among holders of Master’s degrees aged 25-35 was a mere 2.3 percent, versus 2.9 percent of similarly aged holders of Bachelor’s degrees. In 2016, both of these percentages exceeded 3.
Young holders of Master’s degrees are particularly fortunate. Statistics Netherlands has kept tabs since 2003. In the fourteen years since then, unemployment rates among young Master’s degree holders have only once been lower than they are now. That was in the year 2007.
Young men with Master’s degrees more likely to find jobs
However, holders of Bachelor’s degrees are also enjoying the lowest unemployment rates in five years. Women are more likely to reap the benefits of this than men. At present, 2.3 percent of young female holders of Bachelor’s degrees issued by universities or universities of applied sciences are unemployed, versus 3.6 percent of their male counterparts.
The situation is reversed among holders of Master’s degrees. Young male holders of Master’s degrees are less likely to be unemployed than similarly well-educated women: 1.8 percent versus 2.7 percent.