How many people are economically independent?

In 2022, nearly 7 in 10 Dutch women and more than 8 in 10 men were economically independent.note1 Among men this share has been fairly stable since the late 1970s, but among women it has risen sharply in recent decades: in 1977, only 2 in 10 women were economically independent. People are defined as economically independentnoot2 if they earn an income which is at the subsistence level or above. In 2022, that was 1,100 euros per month.

Among women, economic independence rose sharply in the 1980s and 1990s, when more and more women began to engage in paid work. A relatively high number of women also became economically independent after the 2009–2013 economic crisis. This was partly because women started working more hours per week.

Drop in economic independence in women aged 30 and over has largely disappeared in younger generations

In each successive generation of women, more in each age group are economically independent. The gap between generations is the largest among women aged over 60. A difference can also be seen at around the age of 30: in older generations there was a drop in economic independence starting at around that point, but in younger generations this has largely disappeared.

Among women born between 1945 and 1959, the share of those who were economically independent falls until the age of 30. In the next generation (born 1960–1974), it rises until the age of 25 and then falls until the age of 35. Many women become mothers between the ages of 25 and 34, and for those generations that often meant stopping work or working fewer hours. This has happened less in more recent generations: women are more likely to continue working, and to work 20 to 34 hours a week.

Show datatableEconomically independent women (% of people not in education, aged 15 to state pension age)Hide datatableEconomically independent women (% of people not in education, aged 15 to state pension age)

Economically independent women (% of people not in education, aged 15 to state pension age)

years	Born before 1930	1930 to 1944	1945 to 1959	1960 to 1974	1975 to 1989	After 1989
20	.	.	50.8	36.0	38.5	52.9
21	.	.	52.3	52.3	55.2	62.9
22	.	.	51.7	62.5	64.5	68.7
23	.	.	50.1	65.5	68.0	72.6
24	.	.	47.2	66.0	71.4	75.4
25	.	.	41.1	66.1	71.7	77.1
26	.	.	40.6	65.3	72.1	77.9
27	.	.	34.2	62.6	72.0	78.0
28	.	.	29.0	59.9	71.4	77.7
29	.	.	25.1	56.5	70.9	77.1
30	.	.	26.6	55.2	70.4	77.3
31	.	.	26.5	53.5	70.0	77.5
32	.	.	27.8	52.2	69.9	.
33	.	14.2	29.1	52.0	69.2	.
34	.	14.9	29.7	51.9	68.6	.
35	.	13.7	29.8	52.3	68.2	.
36	.	14.0	30.9	53.4	68.1	.
37	.	14.9	32.8	54.2	68.1	.
38	.	14.5	33.3	54.5	68.5	.
39	.	13.2	34.6	55.5	68.9	.
40	.	14.8	35.9	56.2	69.4	.
41	.	15.6	38.2	57.3	69.9	.
42	.	16.1	39.0	58.0	70.4	.
43	.	15.1	39.5	59.2	70.9	.
44	.	15.4	40.3	60.0	71.2	.
45	.	16.9	41.9	61.0	72.1	.
46	.	19.2	43.4	61.9	73.0	.
47	.	20.4	43.8	62.9	.	.
48	12.1	22.3	44.6	62.7	.	.
49	10.4	22.4	45.0	62.5	.	.
50	11.4	22.1	45.1	62.3	.	.
51	12.6	22.0	45.9	62.3	.	.
52	11.8	22.5	45.5	61.7	.	.
53	9.9	21.2	44.6	61.0	.	.
54	10.5	20.0	44.2	60.3	.	.
55	9.3	19.0	43.0	59.5	.	.
56	9.5	18.5	41.7	58.5	.	.
57	9.0	16.9	40.6	57.4	.	.
58	8.5	15.4	39.2	56.0	.	.
59	7.8	13.8	37.5	54.1	.	.
60	6.7	10.9	34.5	52.0	.	.
61	4.7	7.7	31.4	49.3	.	.
62	3.7	5.8	27.6	.	.	.
63	3.1	4.9	22.6	.	.	.
64	2.6	4.2	21.9	.	.	.

Hardly any change in economic independence in men between the ages of 25 and 49

In each generation of men, the number of those who are economically independent increases up to the age of 25, and then changes little, before declining after the age of 50. There is no decline in economic independence among men at around the age at which they generally become fathers. They are more likely to continue working full-time (35 hours a week or more) after the birth of their first child. The decline that starts at the age of 50 is because more and more men become reliant on social benefits as they are no longer able to work or lose their job. Older generations were also more likely to have the chance to retire earlier.

Show datatableEconomically independent men (% of those not in education, aged 15 to state pension age)Hide datatableEconomically independent men (% of those not in education, aged 15 to state pension age)

Economically independent men (% of those not in education, aged 15 to state pension age)

years	Born before 1930	1930-1944	1945-1959	1960-1974	1975-1989	After 1989
20	.	.	45.9	41.4	56.9	63.5
21	.	.	55.5	58.6	68.5	69.7
22	.	.	59.9	70.7	75.1	73.6
23	.	.	67.7	76.3	78.3	76.8
24	.	.	71.8	79.4	79.7	79.7
25	.	.	76.1	81.8	81.8	82.1
26	.	.	79.3	83.7	83.4	83.8
27	.	.	81.7	85.0	84.3	85.0
28	.	.	83.2	85.4	84.1	85.6
29	.	.	84.7	85.9	84.8	85.8
30	.	.	85.7	86.1	85.5	86.5
31	.	.	86.3	86.4	85.7	87.3
32	.	.	86.4	86.4	85.8	.
33	.	89.9	86.2	86.8	86.0	.
34	.	90.0	87.1	87.3	85.7	.
35	.	90.4	86.7	87.8	85.6	.
36	.	90.7	86.6	87.9	85.6	.
37	.	89.4	86.2	87.7	85.6	.
38	.	89.3	85.7	87.3	85.8	.
39	.	89.5	86.2	87.2	85.9	.
40	.	88.0	86.3	86.7	86.1	.
41	.	87.3	86.2	86.4	86.1	.
42	.	86.7	86.0	85.9	86.1	.
43	.	86.4	86.2	86.0	85.9	.
44	.	84.7	86.2	85.7	85.7	.
45	.	84.7	85.9	85.3	86.0	.
46	.	84.7	85.4	85.0	86.2	.
47	.	83.5	84.9	84.6	.	.
48	85.9	82.7	84.6	84.1	.	.
49	84.5	81.6	84.6	83.6	.	.
50	84.9	80.2	84.1	83.1	.	.
51	83.6	78.4	83.6	82.6	.	.
52	80.2	76.8	82.9	82.2	.	.
53	78.1	76.0	81.9	81.8	.	.
54	77.7	74.3	80.9	81.4	.	.
55	75.5	72.5	79.5	80.9	.	.
56	70.9	68.6	77.5	80.4	.	.
57	69.5	64.6	75.5	79.7	.	.
58	67.2	59.0	73.6	78.7	.	.
59	61.9	52.9	71.1	77.2	.	.
60	55.1	45.1	67.4	75.9	.	.
61	41.7	33.3	61.4	74.2	.	.
62	32.5	24.9	54.7	.	.	.
63	26.3	19.8	46.2	.	.	.
64	22.0	18.1	45.3	.	.	.