Younger generations ditching gender-roles in who pays for what; More working moms

In the Netherlands, cohabiting women mainly pay for household costs like groceries and men pay the larger expenses like mortgage and taxes. But the younger generations are ditching those traditional gender roles, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) reported. That is partly due to women participating in the labor market more. There are fewer and fewer cohabitating households where only the man has paid work, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported.

“There are currently still clear differences in who pays for what in a household,” DNB said. Women are more likely to pay for groceries and be responsible for payments to family and friends. For example, 32 percent of women who live with a partner always pay for groceries, compared to 12 percent of men. Men more often pay fixed costs like rent, mortgage, insurance, and taxes. For example, 47 percent of men living with a partner always pay the taxes and social security contributions, compared to 23 percent of women.

But that traditional division of roles in who pays for what is decreasing rapidly in the younger generations. People under the age of 35 who live with a partner are much more likely to make their payments together through a household wallet or take turns. For example, 47 percent of men and women from the youngest generation pay the insurance premiums just as often as their partners, compared to 18 percent of those over 65.

That is partly because the traditional gender roles in who brings home the income are also slowly changing. According to CBS, the percentage of families with underage children in which only the dad works has dropped from 19 percent in 2013 to 13 percent last year. Families in which both parents have a full-time job increased from 9.6 percent to 14.1 percent in that period. In most families (52.1 percent), the man works full-time while their partner works part-time.

But there is still ground to be gained to overcome traditional gender roles on this front. Of non-working mothers with a partner, approximately 14 percent weren’t looking for work in 2022. Almost half of them said that was because they were caring for their family or household. Of non-working fathers not looking to work (5 percent), only 7 percent said it was because they were caring for their household or family.

According to DNB, comfort and experience with digital payment methods also play a role in who pays for what in a household. Men more often have experience with new forms of payment and are more likely to enjoy trying new payment methods. “Among the younger generation, there is no gender gap for experience with different payment methods,” the Dutch central bank added.