Although it has been illegal in the Netherlands since 1 March 1980 to pay people who do the same work differently, it still happens. On 24 November 2025, it will be Equal Pay Day in the Netherlands. From that day, women will symbolically work unpaid for the rest of the year. The idea behind Equal Pay Day comes from the United States and has been promoted in the Netherlands since 2006.
Although it has been illegal in the Netherlands since 1 March 1980 to pay people who do the same work differently, it still happens. On 24 November 2025, it will be Equal Pay Day in the Netherlands. From that day, women will symbolically work unpaid for the rest of the year. The idea behind Equal Pay Day comes from the United States and has been promoted in the Netherlands since 2006.
What is the gender pay gap?
The gender pay gap is the average gross hourly wage of all women in the Netherlands compared to the average gross hourly wage of all men. It is based on the salary before tax is deducted and it is paid to employees. On average, women earn 10.5% less per hour than men (Source: FNV). As long as the wage gap persists, women could miss out on around 300,000 euros each in a whole working life.
The 'explainable' pay gap
Some of this difference can be explained, an example being the difference in position. Men are more likely than women to hold managerial positions with higher hourly wages. This adjusted wage gap looks at about twenty characteristics, such as employee characteristics, employer characteristics and job characteristics.
Women are more likely to work in sectors where wages are lower, such as healthcare or education.
The 'mother effect'
A common female stereotype is the caring woman. According to US economist Claudia Goldin, this is not crazy, and the wage gap is caused by the so-called 'mother effect'. According to Goldin, the impact of motherhood is partly explained by the nature of today's job market. In many sectors, workers are expected to be constantly flexible and available. Men and women earn equally at the start of their careers, but women take on more parenting and household responsibilities. As a result, women are more likely to work part-time than men. This negatively affects their careers and wages. Goldin researched the gender pay gap and won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2023.
The "unexplained" wage gap
But there is also a part of the wage gap that is unexplained, this is also called the unadjusted wage gap. This has to do with (unconscious) discrimination. For example, men doing the same work as women are often paid better. This is called unequal pay and is prohibited by law. So why does it still occur in practice? One reason may be that salary is based on the last salary earned. But the extent and manner in which salary negotiations take place also plays a role. As a result, women are often ranked lower than men. Another cause has to do with persistent ideas about specific task divisions between men and women. Gender stereotypes, such as the idea that men work and women (mainly) care, influence young people's school and career choices early on. This leads to a segmented labour market and increases the wage gap. Women are more likely to work part-time, especially after the arrival of children; in contrast, men are more likely to work full-time.
Atria's report Free to choose? (2022) shows especially that young adult men are strongly guided by traditional role patterns. We therefore recommend that gender equality policy should also explicitly target boys and men.
In addition, women's work is less valued, e.g. work in care and education.
How do we close the wage gap?
Through European legislation?
In March 2023, Directive (EU) 2023/970 was adopted. This directive aims to increase transparency on the gender pay gap. Employees will be able to see what colleagues earn on average and employers will be required to report on their policies to close the pay gap. Transparency has been recognised internationally as an effective way to tackle wage discrimination. Several countries, including Belgium, France and Sweden, already have legislation on this. The Netherlands lags behind in this area, but must comply with new EU rules by 2026 at the latest.
Via certificates?
Erasmus Q-Intelligence, part of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, offers to investigate any gender pay differences within companies and hands out certificates for this. If there are no major differences in wages between men and women, organisations are given the 'excellent' rating.
Protesting pays off?
For years, women have been protesting nationally and internationally for equal pay for equal work. For example, on 24 October 2023, women in Iceland laid down paid and unpaid work for 24 hours in protest against the wage gap. In the Netherlands, too, attention is often drawn to this issue. In cooperation with the Equal Pay Foundation, Atria has created a historical timeline on this struggle for the 'I deserve more' campaign in 2022, including:
1969: First 'wild' women's strike
In 1969, female workers at the Champ Clark cigar factory, in Nieuwe Pekela, laid off work. The male workers received ten guilders extra per week unlike the female workers. The factory management rebuffed the female workers, arguing that men did heavier work, after all. Nonsense, the women thought, and they decided it was time for radical action. The women in Nieuw Pekela got what they deserved and the pay for female and male workers at the factory was equalised.
Read more about this in the blog What the women of the cigar factory teach us about the wage gap (in Dutch)
1973: Working bitches
In March 1973, female workers at the Optilon factory in Winschoten went on strike against unequal pay for their work, demanding the same pay as their male colleagues. The strike received national attention. The action group Dolle Mina, and other feminist groups declare solidarity with the strike. Two months later, Dolle Mina launched the Working Wives Plan. In it, they called for, among other things, equal pay for equal work, equal opportunities in education and occupation and free childcare. Demands that are still relevant more than 50 years later.
It would take until 1975 before the House of Representatives passed the Equal Pay for Women and Men Act.
