100 years of Women & Work: from participation to thriving

Sometimes progress seems obvious. As if women have always been able to work, choose, earn, grow, and partake in decision-making. As if the position that women hold today has developed slowly but logically. But looking back at the past hundred years, we see something different.

Many rights that feel normal today are surprisingly young. Women only received active voting rights in 1919. Married women were legally incapable of acting for a long time. And female civil servants could be forced to resign as soon as they got married. Work, independence, and financial autonomy were for women not a given right for a long time, but something for which space had to be constantly fought. That history is closer than we sometimes think.

The first step was gaining access

The struggle for women in the labor market did not start with advancement, job satisfaction, or leadership. It began with something much more fundamental: access.

Access to rights. To work. To income. To independent choices.

Only in the middle of the twentieth century did more legal space gradually emerge. Married women gained the right to act independently. They were allowed to work, open a bank account, and make decisions without their husband's permission. The mandatory dismissal of female civil servants upon marriage was also abolished.

These were huge steps. Not just legally, but also socially. They made it clear that women had a role not only in the family but also in society, the economy, and the workplace. 
Yet legal equality did not mean real equality.

The law changed faster than the workplace

From the 1970s and 1980s onward, it became increasingly clear that equal rights also needed to be translated into practice. The provision that the man was the head of the household was removed from the law. Equal pay for equal work was established. And equal treatment in the workplace became mandatory.

That sounds like a solid foundation. And it was. But paper does not automatically change patterns. Because even after laws were adjusted, old beliefs continued to operate. About who the breadwinner is. Who cares. Who must be available. Who is considered ambitious. And who is expected to advance automatically.

At the beginning of the 1980s, only three out of ten women had a paid job of twelve hours or more per week. This shows how slowly societal norms can shift, even when the legal basis changes.

The question therefore shifted from: can women work? 
To: do women really have the same opportunities to grow?

Participation is not the same as being valued

Women can no longer be imagined outside the labor market. They work, lead, run businesses, care, innovate, and contribute at all levels. That's a gain. A significant gain even. But mere participation is not enough.

Because the way work is organized does not yet always align with the reality of women's lives. The Netherlands is a striking example of this. Many women work, but often in smaller contracts. About 61 percent of Dutch women work part-time, compared to 19 percent of men. This puts the Netherlands significantly off from the European average.

This pattern of part-time work does not stand alone. Women still spend significantly more time on unpaid work, such as caregiving tasks, informal care, and household tasks. This averages 26.5 hours per week for women compared to 17.5 hours for men.

This difference has consequences. In energy. In availability. In visibility. In opportunities for growth. And in the space that women feel to express ambition or take the next step.

That is why it is too easy to only look at how many women are working. The more important question is: under what conditions are they working?

Progress can also stand still

In recent years, significant steps have been taken once again. Think of additional parental leave for partners, paid parental leave, and the women's quota for publicly traded companies. Each of these measures contributes to more balance, visibility, and representation.

But at the same time, reality shows that progress is not a straight line.

The Netherlands fell from 28th to 43rd place on the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum in 2025. On a ranking of 148 countries, countries like Lithuania, Rwanda, and the Philippines rank significantly higher than the Netherlands.

For a prosperous country like the Netherlands, this is painful. Especially because we like to see ourselves as modern, free, and equal. But this decline shows that prosperity does not automatically lead to equality. And that good intentions are not enough if systems, culture, and leadership do not evolve accordingly.

It is a wake-up call. Not to point fingers. But to honestly assess where we stand.

Which norms will we find incomprehensible later?

When we look back, some things are almost unimaginable. That a woman had to stop working as soon as she got married. That she could not open a bank account independently. That it was legally established that the man was the head of the household.

But maybe we should also ask ourselves another question.

What norms today will we find incomprehensible in twenty years?

That part-time work is still too often linked to less ambition?
That caregiving responsibility is primarily seen as a private matter?
That women often have to prove themselves before their potential is recognized?
That topics like pregnancy, motherhood, menstruation, menopause, or informal care are still not openly discussed in the workplace?
That leadership is still recognized more quickly when it is visible, outspoken, and always available?

Here is where history intersects with the present. Because inequality today is not always found in what is legally permissible. It often resides in what has become normal. In assumptions, expectations, and unwritten rules.

And this is exactly why women-empowering employment practices are needed.

From participation to thriving

Over the past hundred years, women have gradually gained more space to participate. But the next step requires more than just access.

It is no longer just a question of whether women are present in the labor market. It is about whether they can also thrive there.

Can women grow without constantly having to adjust? 
Is their talent recognized, even if ambition manifests differently? 
Is there room for different life phases, work rhythms, and styles of leadership? 
Do organizations critically assess their culture, policies, and daily practices? 
And are we willing to build systems that do not start from one dominant norm but make space for differences?

Women-empowering employment practices start precisely there. With organizations that are willing to look deeper. At who gets space. Who is seen. Who advances. And who might still be standing on the sidelines unnoticed.

Not because women still need to prove they want or can. But because organizations become stronger when female talent truly flourishes.

Now is the moment

The history of women and work shows how much can change when people dare to question existing patterns. Every step forward once began with the realization: this can be different.

That realization is needed again today.

Because yes, much has been achieved. But as long as the Netherlands drops on international gender equality rankings, as long as women bear more unpaid work, as long as part-time work is still too often unconsciously linked to less ambition, and as long as female talent does not receive the same opportunities to grow everywhere, we are not there yet.

The movement of the past century took women from exclusion to participation. The challenge now is to grow from participation to thriving.

For women who want to grow.
For organizations that want to strengthen.
For a labor market where equality is not something to proudly look back on, but something we live out every day.

Ready to look further?

This article gives you a first glimpse into the Trends & Timeline of Women-Empowering Employment Practices. In the inspiration guide, you will discover more insights, expert interviews, and stories from practice about job satisfaction, talent development, and leadership.

Do you want your organization to truly take action on women-empowering employment practices? Then you can also request the complete publication from the inspiration guide.

Request the inspiration guide and take the first step.

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