The difference in pay rates for men and women doing the same job in the Netherlands has reduced by three percentage points over the past three years, according to research by accountancy group PWC.

Nevertheless, the gender-related income gap remains 17%, the research, quoted by the Financieele Dagblad, states.

The improvement means the Netherlands has climbed from 17th to 12th place in the PWC Women in Work index. The index also takes part-time work and unemployment into account.

Comparison

Despite the improvement, the income gap remains higher than in other developed countries and the Netherlands also has more part-timers.

While more generous childcare systems would help, it is also a luxury issue, PWC economist Jan Willem Velthuijsen told the paper. ‘In Scandinavia, families cannot live on 1.5 salaries but in the Netherlands they can.’