Abstract
Wage moderation has been at the heart of the Netherlands’ model of socio-economic governance since the 1980s. Low-paid employment has grown significantly, lower wages being constrained by declining minimum wages. Lagging incomes and consumption have depressed demand in retail, whose workforce – especially young people – accepted low-paid, part-time jobs. Low pay tends to reduce job quality – a phenomenon which has been heightened by the exceptionally long tail of youth minimum wages and the education grant system allowing students to work and skewing the labour market against young full-time jobseekers. The current crisis may thwart retail’s budding re-professionalization.