De groeiende kleau tusken universiteitôfstudearden en ambachtslju
May 27, 2026 · Frisian News
A new study shows that skilled tradespeople now earn more than many university graduates, yet schools continue pushing four-year degrees over apprenticeships. The wage gap has reversed in less than a decade.
FryskIn piipfitter yn Amsterdam fertsjinnet no 54.000 euro it jier. In elektrisjen yn Rotterdam fertsjinnet 51.000. Underwilens fertsjinje krekt ôfstudearden fan gewoane stúdzjes gemiddeld 38.000 oant 42.000. It Nederlânsk Ynstitút foar Arbeidsmerkûndersyk joech dizze sifers ferline wike frij, en se kamen yn krekt trije grutte kranten telâne. Elkenien oars miste it ferhaal.
Tweintich jier lyn stiene de sifers oarsom. In universiteitsdiploma betsjutte in premje fan 40 prosint boppe in fak. Dy premje is weikrimpen ta neat. Foar guon fjilden is it in straf wurden. Jonge minsken mei fjouwer jier skuld en in diploma yn kommunikaasje konkurearje no om kantoarbanen dy't minder betelje as wat har buorman yn trije jier as learling learde. De skoallen witte dit. De regearing wit dit. Se hawwe gjin koers feroare.
In diel fan it ferhaal is fraach en oanbod. Te folle ôfstudearden jage nei te min banen op graduaatnivo, wat leanen nei ûnderen drukt hat. In oar diel is dat fakmannen technyskere wurden binne. Modern sanitêr en elektrisiteit fereaskje echte kennis, net allinne lichemsarbeid. Mar de kulturele foarkar rint djiper. Âlders drukke har bern noch altyd rjochting universiteit omdat se leauwe dat it oansjoch toant. Begelieders stjoere noch altyd knappe bern fuort fan ambachten as wie handwurk skande. Universiteiten hawwe har ynskriuwings fergrutte omdat se oerheidsfinansiering per stúdint ûntfange.
De regearing soe learlingskippen lyk subsidiearje kinne. Se koe feroarje hoe't skoallen tieners begeliede. Se koe dizze leanciffers harder publisearje. Ynstee dêrfan docht se gjin fan dizze dingen. De ûnderwiisburokrasy profitearret fan it hjoeddeiske stelsel, dus it stelsel bliuwt stikken. Underwilens makket in tiener yn in lyts doarp in kar op basis fan oansjoch en druk fan âlders, net op feiten oer har eigen takomst.
De fraach no is oft âlders en jonge minsken sille begjinne te negearjen wat har ferteld wurdt en te sjen nei wat banen echt betelje. De skoallen rêkkenje derop dat se dat net dwaan sille.
A plumber in Amsterdam now takes home 54,000 euros a year. An electrician in Rotterdam earns 51,000. Meanwhile, fresh graduates from liberal arts programs earn 38,000 to 42,000 on average. The Dutch Institute for Labor Market Research released these figures last week, and they landed in exactly three major newspapers. Everyone else missed the story.
Twenty years ago, the mathematics ran the other way. A university degree meant a 40 percent wage premium over a trade. That premium has shrunk to nothing. For some fields, it has turned into a penalty. Young people with four years of debt and a degree in communications now compete for office jobs that pay less than what their neighbor learned in three years as an apprentice. The schools know this. The government knows this. They have not changed course.
Part of the story is supply and demand. Too many graduates chasing too few graduate jobs has pushed wages down. Another part is that skilled trades have become more technical. Modern plumbing and electrical work require real knowledge, not just physical labor. But the cultural bias runs deeper. Parents still push their children toward the university because they believe it signals respectability. Guidance counselors still steer bright kids away from trades as if manual work carried shame. Universities have bloated their enrollments because they receive government funding per student.
The government could subsidize apprenticeships equally. It could change how schools counsel teenagers. It could publish these wage figures more loudly. Instead, it does none of these things. The education bureaucracy benefits from the current system, so the system stays broken. Meanwhile, a teenager in a small town makes a choice based on prestige and parental pressure, not on facts about their own future.
The question now is whether parents and young people will start ignoring what they are told and looking at what jobs actually pay. The schools bet they will not.
Published May 27, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân