Halving the pay differential between men and women is a top priority for culture and education minister Ronald Plasterk, who is also responsible for emancipation issues.

Plasterk told a conference in Amsterdam that, on average, women earn 20% less than men, mainly because men are in higher positions. At present 12% of Dutch managers are female, but this must go increase to 25% by 2010, he said.
The minister also wants to boost the number of women in the workforce by two percentage points to 65%, in line with EU targets.