The number of social enterprises in The Netherlands has grown by more than 2,000 in the past five years. But very few aim for the type of scale that would actually solve the societal issue they address. What is holding them back?
Social enterprises play an important role in solving societal issues, spurring the use of renewables, enlarging labor market participation, and improving health and wellbeing. And they’re more popular than ever in The Netherlands. Between 2010 and 2015, the annual turnover of the country’s more than 5,000 social enterprises increased by 70 percent to €3.5 billion. While the Dutch job market lost 70,000 jobs during that period, social enterprises created more than 25.000 jobs.
