Last week Sarah reminded me of this article from MacLeans.
If you don't have time to read it, I'll try to summarize.
About 75% of Dutch women work part-time.
And not only the women with kids. That's the entire population - young, old, married, single.
They are (based on survey data) the happiest women on the planet.
Critics claim that it's a regression. That they are tossing aside everything that the feminist movement worked for, and that the next generation of daughters won't have the right role models.
I deeply appreciate what the feminist movement has given us modern women. It's given us a lot of choice, but I still don't think we've ever reached the point of equality. Women are still the ones who have to balance between work and home, still make less money than men in the same jobs, are still doing the majority of housework and child-raising and burning the candle at both ends.
So are the Dutch women taking a step backward?
Or are they creating a new wave of feminism with even more choice?
Do you think we in North America would ever be able to pull it off?
(I think we'd need a lot more social structure and a better part-time wage, for starters.)
And who is a better role model? The woman who achieves career ambitions and financial success? Or the one with a variety of activities and more time with her children?
Would you go to part-time if you could?
So much to think about, and I think I need to visit the Netherlands again.
p.s. Don't be a lurker on this one! I'd love to know what you think - men and women.
