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Status of the emancipation process 2006

Original title: Emancipatiemonitor 2006.

Forty years after the start of the second wave of feminism, emancipation is enjoying renewed attention in the Netherlands. It is high on the agenda of most political parties, who call for things such as free childcare and better leave arrangements. These calls are prompted by the fact that women's labour is sorely needed in today's maturing and ageing society.

The Emancipation Monitor 2006 (Emancipatiemonitor 2006) underlines the fact that the emancipation process really does need a push. This fourth edition again brings together the most up-to-date statistics on topics such as labour market participation, economic independence, violence against women, the proportion of women in senior and decision-making positions and the proportion of men in unpaid work. Three more in-depth chapters explore a number of common assumptions about emancipation: first, the assumption that it is harder to combine work with care tasks in the Netherlands than in other Western countries, and that this explains the large number of women working part-time; second, that the emancipation process is moving more quickly in urban areas than in the countryside; and third, that new generations of women and men are more emancipated than previous generations. Finally, in the epilogue the Monitor looks at why the emancipation process is not proceeding more quickly.