Standing on your own two feet as a woman is not at all obvious in the Netherlands. Shocking, but true: nearly 44% of all Dutch ladies do not earn enough money to take care of themselves. Yet much has changed in the Netherlands since the 1950s. But how much has actually changed? What is the state of women’s financial independence and where do we really stand today?
Women’s financial independence by 2023
Around women’s financial independence, there is good news and, unfortunately, bad news as well. Still a large proportion of women earn less than minimum wage, the pension gap is still a reality, and the wage gap is also still the order of the day. 76% of women die alone, as we age, on average, older than men. 40% of couples break up, and after a break-up a woman loses an average of 25% in purchasing power. Work to be done. Read how we stand and at the end we share some tips on what you can do if you are financially dependent.
Financial independence, what is that anyway?
Definition: A person is financially independent if she earns at least 100 percent of the minimum wage. You also often see the concept of “economic self-sufficiency” come along. To be economically independent, your individual net income from employment or own business must be at or above the threshold of the policy standard for the individual income minimum (€1080 per month). Source: CBS definition Economically self-employed
The latest state regarding the financial independence of women in the Netherlands was presented in CBS’ Emancipation Monitor 2022. That report included the following conclusions:
- By 2021, 66.3% of all non-educated women aged 15 to state pension age were economically independent.
- By 2021, 77.1% of non-educational women aged 15 to 65 were in paid employment.
As far as we are concerned, financial independence goes beyond financial self-sufficiency. Not only do you want to be able to pay for your groceries this month, but also build up a pension and create a good savings buffer. That means you can also make long-term choices and decisions that are good for you as a woman.
Good news?
Well, let’s start with the good news: more and more women are working! And with it, women’s financial independence has also increased. Thus, the gap between men and women is narrowing. However, there are significant differences between women; women with lower levels of education or with non-Western migration backgrounds unfortunately lose out in this regard.
At the fair, fortunately, more and more women are joining. Money is a complex and layered abstract thing that plays a role in so many aspects of our lives. Therefore, strengthening our financial position as women is difficult, but very important. For some of us, being able to save and invest is a luxury reserved for the a priori wealthy in society, or is seen as a far too complicated activity for which we are not at all ready. This is nonsense, of course; we women are even better investors than men!
More opportunities, still lopsided proportions
Today, women have more access to money and wealth than ever before, given that we have more opportunities in the workplace and in the economy than women in previous generations. We play a more prominent role in building wealth – and our economic influence is therefore gradually increasing.
And yet, major life changes such as having children, buying a house or getting divorced typically still affect women more financially than men. For example, whereas women often start working fewer hours (paid) from the birth of their first child, men generally do not. Some 28 percent of women start working less and 10 percent stop working altogether. Only 8 percent of men stop working after birth or started working less. Younger generations screw back the number of hours worked less than previous generations. Difficult to think anything about this, as it remains a very personal choice. Yet even with this choice, it is important to keep in mind the long-term implications and what it does to your financial independence.
Part-time work-land
By 2021, 67.3% of women had part-time jobs. Some of the women who have part-time jobs would, under certain circumstances, like to work more. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, for example because of caring for young children (96%) and household (86%). Or because in the sector where women work, part-time contracts are the norm (in healthcare, for example), or because the workload is high. What is striking and also worrisome is that the percentage of couples who want to divide work and care equally has narrowed (from 44% to 41%), as has the percentage who ultimately put this into practice (from 16% to 9%)
Anno 2023, there is still a so-called wage gap. This means that on average, women earn 13 percent less per hour than men. WOMEN Inc. launched a new campaign in 2019 to put the wage gap on employers’ agendas (at the time of this campaign, the wage gap was still 15%).
Ladies in IT
In addition to lower labor force participation, the wage gap has long been related to the nature of the occupations held by women. Fortunately, a shifting seems to be taking place there as well. Girls today are more likely to choose a technical education; boys somewhat more likely to choose healthcare. This is reflected in the job market. The share of women working in health and welfare occupations, service occupations and business and administrative occupations decreased slightly, and their share in technical occupations and ICT increased slightly. The proportion of women at the top in business, science and central government has also grown. Yet there is still talk of the “glass ceiling” that women in senior positions face.
As women ourselves, what can we do now to increase our financial independence?
These are a number of things:
- Whenever possible, work more = make more money. Not only now, but also for later. That pension gap, remember!
- Talk to your partner. If you decide to work less but spend more time on household chores, there is a value in return. Discuss how you jointly ensure your retirement savings, or how you jointly build an additional savings pot for you.
- Knowing your worth = going into salary negotiations prepared or deciding to just apply for that one managerial position because you know you can do it!
- Looking for a side hustle; are you good at homemade card crafting? Offer them on Etsy. Do you enjoy tutoring math? Offer yourself as a tutoring teacher. Perhaps these are additional sources of income you can pick up in the evenings that will help you build a buffer.
- Investing, investing, investing. Can’t stress this enough, ladies! Make your money work for you. Make more of it. Read more about what investing is and how to get started here.
