Thanks to the five-day working week, the Dutch have plenty of leisure time. As well as joining associations and sports clubs, they are fond of tending their gardens. Urban dwellers without a garden often have an allotment, a plot with a shed on the outskirts of town.

Many people like to do odd jobs around the home, like building, painting and gardening. Every town and city has at least one big do-it-yourself store and several large garden centres, which can count on plenty of business. Most families also have a home computer, on which they spend many hours working, playing, or surfing the Internet.