More women work but inequalities remain

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Some 57% of women in the Netherlands now have jobs, up from 53% in 2005, according to new figures published on Wednesday.

The government’s target is for 65% of women to have jobs by next year, says the national statistics office CBS and the government’s social policy advisory body SCP in its latest emancipation report.

But while the percentage of working women has risen significantly, the report points out that the number that are economically independent (earning €900 a month after tax) stagnated at 43% in 2006, up just 1% from two years earlier.

Independence

This is 'a big setback,’ for the government’s target of 60% by 2010 says Michiel Vergeer in today’s Volkskrant.

Some 70% of working women have part-time jobs.

And while more women have management functions – 26% in 2007 compared with 21% in 2005 – only 7% of the top jobs in business are filled by women.

Women also continue to earn less than men for doing the same job, say the researchers. The difference in salaries is 6% in business and 3% for civil servants.

© DutchNews.nl

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