Educated and financially stable moms are the biggest money savers for a country

What children and moms have told me

Why equal pay matters

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Where the gender pay gap stands today

In the Netherlands, women in the business sector earned on average 14.5% less per hour than men in 2024. When differences in job, working hours and experience are taken into account, a gap of 6.1% remains. In government, the gap was 4.5%, and 1.7% after correction. The gap is getting smaller, step by step.

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Behind these numbers are choices. Companies have insight into all salaries and choose the contracts they offer. Over a lifetime the difference adds up: women build up considerably less pension than men, which continues to affect their lives long after their working years.

Change is on its way. The European Pay Transparency Directive requires employers to be open about pay and to report and address unexplained pay differences between women and men. The Dutch law to implement it was submitted to parliament in 2026, with 1 January 2027 as the target date. This is the moment for leaders to take the lead.

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Mothers are often the breadwinner

In 2025, one in eight households with children in the European Union was a single-parent household. In 81.6% of these families, the parent was a woman. In the Netherlands, almost one in six children lives in a single-parent household, mostly with their mother.

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These mothers carry the care for their children and the income of their family on their own shoulders. They share their income with the next generation. When a mother earns less for the same work, her children receive less too. In the Netherlands, the poverty rate among children in single-parent families in 2024 was almost four times higher than among children with two parents: 7.3% compared with 1.9%. Equal pay for mothers is a direct investment in their children.

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Educated mothers raise healthier children

A mother's education is one of the strongest factors in her children's health. Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (University of Washington) studied 175 countries between 1970 and 2009. They found that 51% of the worldwide drop in child mortality in that period was linked to women receiving more education. In 2009 alone, 4.2 million fewer children died because women had received more years of schooling.

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Educated mothers make informed choices about nutrition, hygiene, pregnancy care, sleep, movement and the right moment to see a doctor. They find their way to the care their children need, and they pass on knowledge about a healthy life. Their children grow up fitter and healthier, and they carry that knowledge into their own adult lives. Investing in the education of women and mothers is investing in the health of the next generation.

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Financially stable mothers invest in their children

Research from around the world shows that who receives the money matters. In the United Kingdom, the government shifted the child benefit from fathers to mothers. Economists Shelly Lundberg, Robert Pollak and Terence Wales found that afterwards, more money was spent on children's clothing and less on men's clothing.

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In South Africa, economist Esther Duflo studied state pensions for older people. When grandmothers received a pension, the girls in their households grew significantly taller and healthier. When grandfathers received the same pension, this effect was absent. In Brazil, economist Duncan Thomas found that income in the hands of mothers had a much larger effect on children's health and survival than the same income in the hands of fathers.

The pattern is clear: mothers invest a large share of their income in their children, their family and their community. Every euro a mother earns flows back into the next generation.

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Children of working mothers grow up more independent

A mother who works, learns and earns her own income is a powerful role model. Researchers at Harvard Business School, led by Kathleen McGinn, studied adult children in 24 countries. Daughters of working mothers were more likely to have a job themselves, more often held a supervisory position and earned more. Sons of working mothers spent more time caring for their family and sharing household tasks.

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Children learn from what they see. When they grow up with a mother who is educated, financially independent and able to make her own choices, they learn that they can do the same. Daughters grow into self-reliant women, and sons grow into caring men. Together they build a society in which women and men share work and care in balance.

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Income, health and safety go hand in hand

Many studies show a direct relationship between income, health and safety. The more income people have, the healthier and safer they live. In the Netherlands, people at the top of the welfare ladder live almost 25 years longer in good health than people at the bottom.

Children feel this from their very first years. In the first cycle of their life, children learn whether they may be rich or poor, whether they may ask for an ice cream, and whether life is safe. Children who grow up with enough have access to healthy food, a safe home, sports, music, school trips and time with a relaxed parent. They have more chances to develop their talents and grow up healthy. When children have enough, they shine as adults.

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Lower costs for society, lower taxes

Poverty in childhood can affect children for the rest of their lives. When mothers earn a fair income and are well educated, fewer families need support from poverty schemes, debt counselling and youth care. Healthier families need less care. Every amount that companies pay women more cuts costs in society's expenses.

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Equality also prevents physical complaints and stress. When women and men are paid equally, families have enough income, older women receive a better pension, and young people grow up more stable with varied role models. In my vision, equality could cut healthcare costs significantly and deliver billions every year. When society spends less on poverty, care and youth care, taxes can drop. A wellbeing policy that aims for 100% wellbeing begins with a fair income and good education for every mother.

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Equal pay is a smart business case

Paying women fairly is also an investment for companies. Companies that pay women less indirectly contribute to poverty and illness among their own employees and their children. Companies that pay women fairly help build a healthier society, with healthier employees, customers and future talent.

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On a larger scale, the potential is enormous. The McKinsey Global Institute calculated that advancing women's equality in the economy could add 12 trillion dollars to global GDP. Shareholders earn a lot from underpaid women, but the costs that humanity pays are many times higher. Equal pay lets those costs turn into profits for everyone.

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From insecure women to happy women as a business model

Many companies still earn from underpaid and insecure women. Real change comes when investors choose to make happy women their business model. What becomes possible when women are content, well educated, financially secure and support each other in a sisterhood? When women unite, the chance of change is great.

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This is the Femilution: women are the solution, or part of the solution. The needs of women are a natural part of every choice a society makes. In the Matriarchal World, entrepreneurs are the investors, and their goal is to make society and life better. In a new economy, shops for basic needs invest their profits in education and care. Educated, financially stable mothers are the first step towards that world.