Work fatigue rises fastest among Dutch women: 24% now, CBS-TNO data

One in five employees in the Netherlands now feels mentally fatigued by work at least a few times a month, and the rise over the past decade has been sharpest among women and among workers aged 25 to 35, according to figures published on Monday, 9 November 2026, by the Dutch national statistics office CBS and the research organisation TNO. The data come from the National Working Conditions Survey (NEA) for 2025. In that year, 24 percent of women employees reported such work-related fatigue, against 14 percent ten years earlier, while among men the share rose from 13 percent to 18 percent.

The Dutch figures are among the most detailed long-run measures of work strain anywhere, because the same national survey has asked the same question every year. That makes the ten-year trend more reliable than a one-off poll. CBS counts a person as affected when they have feelings of fatigue and exhaustion from work several times a month or more. TNO has cautioned that what it calls "burn-out complaints" in this measure does not mean that all of these workers actually have a burnout, which is a clinical condition. The survey measures how people feel, not a diagnosis.

The finding that women's fatigue has risen faster than men's sits alongside the sector figures: education and care, fields that employ many women, are where the Dutch data show the most fatigue. Education and health care both appear at the top of the CBS list, and the most affected occupations include teaching, creative and language work, ICT and care and welfare jobs. Many of these are jobs that involve dealing with people's needs and emotions all day.

The jump among workers aged 25 to 35 is also striking. This is the stage of life when many people are building careers while starting families, buying or renting homes and, for many women, managing pregnancy and young children. In the Netherlands this group now reports fatigue more than any other age band. The statistics office has not said what is behind the rise, and the survey alone cannot prove a cause, so the reasons remain open.

For Indian readers, the Dutch numbers offer a useful benchmark from a country that has tracked the same question for a decade: even in a wealthy economy, the share of women feeling worn down by their jobs has climbed by ten percentage points. Indian teachers, nurses and care workers face the same kind of people-facing work that tops the Dutch list.

Peepals calculation: women's rate rose by 10 percentage points (14 to 24), an increase of about 71 percent (24 / 14 ≈ 1.71), while men's rose by 5 points, about 38 percent (18 / 13 ≈ 1.38). The gap between women and men widened from 1 point to 6 points. Among 25 to 35 year olds the rate almost doubled, up about 87 percent (28 / 15 ≈ 1.87). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Employers and unions in the Netherlands have fresh national evidence that mental fatigue is rising fastest among women and younger workers, and in teaching and care in particular.

Long-term: If the trend continues, more workers risk sick leave and early exits from demanding sectors that already struggle to hire, such as education and health care.

Who is affected: Women employees, especially in education, health care and welfare jobs; workers aged 25 to 35; and the employers and public services that depend on them.

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