Epilogue
211
6 Political
relevance
The current Dutch government aims towards evolving cultural development by
increasing women’s awareness of the importance of their economic
independence.
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At the moment, 50 per cent of Dutch women are economically
independent. Recent research has shown that Dutch women who are not
economically independent are often not aware of the financial risks of their
situation. They feel independent with their small salary and are not concerned
about the possibility that their partner’s income might decrease or disappear
through divorce, illness or unemployment (De Hoog and Van Egten, 2012, p.69).
In other words, the government’s message entails that women who are
unemployed or have small part-time jobs need to increase their activity in the
labour market. The immense public debate that came to life after this political
goal was made public
reveals that the idea, or worse ‘the obligation’, that mothers
should work as much as necessary in order to achieve economic independence, is
still disliked by many Dutch people. But maybe even more controversial is the
government’s interference with people’s ‘free choices’, since it is assumed that
individuals are perfectly capable of choosing their own lifestyle and identity.
Nevertheless, the Dutch government aims at increasing the overall labour
participation rate to 80 per cent in 2020, and some of the results of this research
might be relevant in the light of these policies.
This study reveals that women who work in order to be economically
independent (30 per cent of Dutch mothers) work more hours compared to
mothers who are not motivated in this way.
In addition, mothers who value their
own economic independence can often recall clear messages concerning their
financial autonomy from their parents. It can thus be understood that the
motivation for economic independence is often already firmly ingrained within
mothers during their childhood, through verbal persuasion or unintentional mental
codes from parents. This does not imply that messages about the importance of
financial independence later in life will have no effect. Nonetheless, in line with
the
results of this research, I expect that the transmission of this message is most
effective during adolescence or in early adulthood. It is also relevant that this
research has revealed the importance for mothers’ professional choices of
teachers’ guidance. This is reflected in such mothers’ current egalitarian attitudes,
and thus their relatively high employment preference. This result leads to the
conclusion that the support of teachers during early adulthood, even though their
role might be underestimated by teachers themselves,
can be salient and enduring
in people’s lives. Their help towards young women in choosing the right
profession can, later in life, increase women’s career aspirations and participation
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Hoofdlijnen Emancipatiebeleid 2013-2016, Vergaderjaar Eerste en Tweede Kamer 2012-2013,
kmnr 477641
Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers
212
in the labour market, and this would be even more enhanced if teachers were to
include the message of the importance of financial autonomy.
Finally, there is the role of supervisors at work. Previous research has
demonstrated the mechanism of engendered (low) expectations of supervisors
towards
the work ambitions of mothers, leading to a withdrawal of mothers from
the labour market. This research has shown that the support of people at work,
mostly by supervisors, in relation to mothers’ professional fulfilment, can
enhance a mother’s egalitarian values and attitudes. Thus they can indirectly
boost mothers’ employment activity. Admittedly, the qualitative findings revealed
that it was mostly the mothers with already egalitarian attitudes who recalled
stimulating colleagues and bosses, and thus their received
support at work merely
seems to have intensified their adherence to symmetrical gender roles.
Nonetheless, the quantitative research has shown a relatively strong significant
relationship between mothers’ perceived career support at work and their own
egalitarian values and attitudes. Therefore encouraging communications between
employers (or supervisors) and mothers might serve to advance the activity rates
of mothers. It is believed in this study that cumulative social actions and
interpersonal encounters at the micro level can have creative and transformative
effects, and thus carrying the ability to “make things happen” and to break
through the accepted and engendered nature of the social order.
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Dutch Summary (Nederlandse samenvatting)
Ingebedde keuzes, onzichtbare beperkingen
Introductie
Dit onderzoek gaat over Nederlandse moeders en hun arbeidsmarktgedrag in het
begin van de 21e eeuw. In het hedendaagse debat over arbeidsmarktgedrag van
vrouwen, zet het discours van de keuzevrijheid de toon. Tegen die
achtergrond is
dit onderzoek uitgevoerd. Mensen zijn geneigd te geloven dat vrouwen vrij zijn
om te doen waar hun voorkeur naar uitgaat en dezelfde kansen hebben op de
arbeidsmarkt als mannen. Aan bepaalde voorwaarden lijkt immers te zijn
voldaan: rechtspositionele gelijkheid, kinderopvangmogelijkheden, gezins-
vriendelijk beleid in collectieve arbeidsovereenkomsten en een grotere acceptatie
van rollen voor vrouwen buiten het gezin en voor mannen binnen het gezin. De
gedachte die hieruit voortvloeit is dat, als vrouwen eigen keuzes kunnen maken
met betrekking tot werk en gezin, zij dan ook zelf verantwoordelijk zijn voor hun
successen en mislukkingen. Deze manier van denken past binnen postmoderne
theorieën van individualisering. Daarin wordt gesteld dat binnen Westerse
maatschappijen individuen steeds minder gebonden zijn aan
traditionele vormen
en voorgeschreven rollen en vrijer om hun eigen identiteit te kiezen.
Het discours van keuzevrijheid lijkt vooral van toepassing op Nederland. De
Nederlandse sociale instituties (zoals arbeidswetgeving en collectieve
overeenkomsten binnen bedrijfssectoren) maken deeltijdwerk mogelijk, waardoor
het Nederlandse vrouwen relatief makkelijk wordt gemaakt om gezin en werk te
combineren. Nederland valt dan ook op door het heterogene arbeidsmarktgedrag
van vrouwen en moeders. Hoewel deeltijdwerk overheerst, zijn ook de
thuisblijfoptie en - in beperkte mate - de voltijdoptie zichtbaar. De aanname is
daarmee dat Nederlandse moeders kunnen en mogen kiezen of ze thuis willen
blijven, parttime gaan werken of fulltime blijven werken. In deze studie
onderzoek ik waar die verschillende arbeidsmarktkeuzes vandaan komen. Ik
veronderstel daarbij dat de perceptie dat arbeidsmarktkeuzes ‘vrije’ keuzes zijn,
het effect van sociale instituties en normen met
betrekking tot gender op de
werkgerelateerde aspiraties van vrouwen onderschat.
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Sociale instituties en het
gedrag van individuen zijn verschillende aspecten of lagen van de sociale
werkelijkheid, maar deze twee sociale lagen zijn onderling afhankelijk en diep
met elkaar verweven.
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Symbolische interactionisten definiëren gender als een continue rol, die plaatsvindt in de sociale
interactie, waarbij vrouwen en mannen hun eigen vrouwelijkheid en mannelijkheid in stand
houden (West en Zimmerman, 1987).