According to a study from the Central Bureau of Statistics in the Netherlands, young women earn more on average, than their male colleagues of the same age.

For women working in the government, the average turning point for earning regarding age was 36 years old, meaning this is when men would start earning more than women. In the business sector, this shift in earning begins at 30 years old for women.

The study shows that young women earn a higher hourly rate than young men because young women are better educated than young men. For older workers (from 45 years and up) the level of education among men is higher than among women and also, factors such as work experience and professional level play a greater role. Regarding numbers and salaries, the older group still dominates the overall employee population.

According to the Bureau, there are differences in pay between men and women, but the differences are largely explained by characteristics such as educational level, occupational level, having part-time or full-time work and work experience. Moreover, the differences are smaller, partly by rising educational attainment of women. 

The Bureau’s study shows that taking into account background characteristics such as level of education and occupational level, women working in the government in 2008 earned 7% less than men. In 2014, this figure had fallen to 5%. In the business sector, the difference decreased from 9% in 2008 to 7% in 2014, showing an overall narrowing gender pay gap.

Without taking into account the various background characteristics, the figures showed a similar trend, although the pay gap was bigger. Women in government in 2008 earned 16% less than men but in 2014 this figure decreased to 10%. In the business sector, the difference decreased during this same period from 22% to 20%.

Across all ages, women working in government seem to be catching up. In 2008, a 50-year-old woman earned on average, 20% less than a male colleague of the same age, but in 2014, that pay gap had fallen to 13%. The same applies to a lesser extent for women in business, decreasing throughout this same period from 30% to 27%.