On the eve of Mother's Day, we take a look at the role of women and the emancipation of working mothers in Dutch society.

The Netherlands celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. The special event has it origins in the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. The Middle Ages in Europe saw a Mother Sunday develop, particularly in England, where Christians celebrated a mother's day on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honour of Mary, mother of Christ. But in 1914, the US officially decreed that Mother's Day would be celebrated on the second Sunday in May and following the end of World War I, the idea spread to several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy and the Netherlands. The tradition of giving presents or breakfast in bed to mothers became highly popular among the Dutch middle class. Husbands and children would also takeover the household duties to give the mother of the house a well deserved rest! But mother's day has declined in importance and new figures suggest just 53 percent of the Dutch population will give their mother extra attention on the second Sunday in May, the research bureau of the Center Parcs bungalow company said. Most of the Dutch who will pay special attention to a mother will give a present, while 13 percent will pay them a visit and 5 percent will ring their mother to wish her a happy day. But it is a long jump to say the Dutch neglect their mothers. In fact, the Netherlands is the sixth best country in the world for mothers to live in, with the yearly survey placing Sweden at the top of a list of 117 nations. The Save the Children organisation said Denmark and Norway shared second place, followed by Switzerland. Australia, Austria and Britain completed the top ten, followed by the US. Life for mothers is pretty good in the Netherlands and Mother's day is a reminder of the other efforts in an ongoing movement to enhance the position of women in society. Emancipation The Social Affairs Ministry says the emancipation process in the Netherlands is not finished. Its Emancipation Monitor 2002 report indicated that men still take responsibility for a smaller share of the home's unpaid work, fill the majority of top functions and earn more than women on a comparative basis. Ministry statistics reveal that in 2001, just 53 percent of women had a job (outside the home) of 12 hours per week or more. The government target is 60 percent by 2010. The government also wants to increase female participation in the Lower House of Parliament from 35 percent (after the May 2002 election) to 50 percent. Also, the number of women in top functions in the profit sector in 2002 was 5 percent and the goal is 20 percent by 2010. Conclusion: emancipation efforts must continue and a new Emancipation Monitor report will be compiled every two years to assess progress. The ministry's special team to co-ordinate emancipation policy, DCE, asserts that both men and women must have equal rights and has established a three-point policy, namely freedom of choice, participation and rights and safety. Emancipated legislation Pregnancy Pregnant women are eligible for full-paid 16 weeks maternity leave, generally divided by six weeks before the birth and 10 weeks after the birth. If your child is born two weeks after the due date, you still have a right to 10 more weeks maternity leave, giving you in total possibly 18 weeks leave. After the birth of a child, Dutch law also allows mothers to temporarily reduce their work hours by taking ouderschapsverlof (parent leave). Adjusting your work hours in a workplace agreement with you employer is also possible. Childcare facilities in the Netherlands are hard to come by and many have waiting lists. But there are three ways in which to obtain a daycare place: a subsidised place from the municipality; a business place via your employee; or a parent-paid childcare place. New legislation designed to make it easier for parents to obtain daycare is also expected to be in place by 2005. The number of childcare places is also expected to be increased strongly to stimulate mothers to return to the workforce. Abortion Abortion is legal in the Netherlands up until the 24th week of a woman's pregnancy. In reality though, due to medical improvements which mean a fetus can live outside the womb from 21 weeks, abortions are not generally performed after this date. The abortion pill has been available in the Netherlands since 2000. More information can be found at: http://en.stisan.nl/ Work The Netherlands has extensive equal opportunity laws regarding the prevention of discrimination in the workplaces on grounds of race, age, sex, political or religious beliefs. The legislation is too complex and lengthy to list here, but if you believe you have been treated unfairly, please contact the Commissie Gelijke Behandeling (www.cgb.nl). For other information you can also contact the Social Affairs Ministry information line on 0800 9051. Sexual intimidation One out of every worker — and mainly women — is a victim of sexual intimidation. A ministerial survey in 2000 also indicated that 78 percent of female workers has experienced double-edged comments and 54 percent have reported being physically touched. In 56 percent of those cases, the culprit is a fellow employee and in 26 percent of cases the culprit is a boss or a manager. The Social Affairs Ministry also said that 30 percent of employees faced with sexual intimidation speak with their manager about it, 30 percent speak with a colleague, one out of 12 speak with the company's "trust" official and 16 percent takes the matter to the company's doctor. The message is clear and simple: You are not alone. If you are the victim of sexual intimidation, contact the Arbeidsinspectie (Labour Inspectorate) which will investigate the matter. The inspectorate can be reached by phoning 070 33 35 599. But if the situation does not improve, you can also contact legal aid at www.bureaurechtshulp.nl or by phoning 070 35 60 620. The National Victim Assistance Organisation can be found at www.slachtofferhulp.nl or 030 23 40 116. The Equal Treatment Commission can be found at www.cgb.nl or by telephone on 030 22 34 800. The position of women The small Christian party SGP missed out recently on entering into a coalition government with the Christian Democrat CDA and Liberal VVD, due in part to concerns from female VVD MPs about the SGP's negative views towards the emancipation of women and equal rights. The SGP statutes actually commit its members to fight against all forms of emancipation that run contrary to "God's law". Emancipation as a movement, has staunch government backers and the government has an Family Affairs and Emancipation State Secretary. But are efforts paying off? Women will always be mothers and there are 4.2 million of them in the Netherlands, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics and more than half of them are older than 50 and only five percent are younger than 30. The average age of women in the Netherlands becoming a mother for the first time is 29 and they are increasingly having babies at an older age. It is also relevant to state that the workforce participation rate of women is increasing according to the target rate of the Social Affairs Ministry and the 65 percent aim should be achieved by 2010. The increasing participation rate means that the percentage of women financially independent between the age of 15 and 65 has increased from about 25 percent in 1990 to 38 percent in 2000, but the target figure of 60 percent by 2010 looks unattainable. In 2000, women earned 32 percent of incomes in the Netherlands, compared with 28 percent in 1990 and the target figure of 35 percent could be achieved in 2010. But after an initial rise in the number of men in unpaid work, since 1995 that increase has stagnated at 35 percent. The hope that a fairer division in household duties between men and women has not been achieved and this is particularly so in families with young children, where the percentage of fathers in paid work is the largest. Emancipation is an ongoing and challenging aspiration. 8 May 2003