Fewer “trad” wives in the Netherlands, most mothers work

Just 13% of Dutch families are made up of the “traditional” working father and stay-at-home mother, down from almost one in five families 10 years ago, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday.

In addition, 25% of the women who don’t work would like to do so under certain conditions, the CBS said.

In half of the 1.5 million households with children under the age of 18, the father works 35 hours a week or more, and the partner less than 35 weeks. That is down slightly from 10 years ago.

But there has been a subtle shift and all part-time workers, both men and women, are working longer hours, the CBS said. There are also more families in which both adults work either full time or part time.

Half of the women who were not looking for work said this was because they were focused on raising their family and running the household and little has changed over the past 10 years. Chronic health conditions are the other main reason why women do not work at all, the CBS said.

Only 8% of stay at home dads, however, said that running the family home was the main reason for not working.

European research also shows that 72% of Dutch adults think it possible for a mother to build up a warm, secure relationship with her children whether she works or not, but that is well below the European average of 80%.

There was also a sharp divide between the sexes in the Netherlands. While three quarters of women said it did not matter if a woman worked or stayed at home, just over two-thirds of men took the same line.

Running the bank account

Meanwhile, a survey by the Dutch central bank, suggests women are more likely to pay for pay the household expenses, such as groceries, while men pay the larger expenses, such as mortgage payments and taxes.

But the trend is shifting and among younger generations, this division of tasks is significantly less clear-cut.

Couples under the age of 35 who live together are much more likely to make household payments jointly than older generations. For example, 47% of men and women from the youngest generation pay insurance premiums as often as their partner, against 18% of those aged 65 and over.