Family issues between gender and generations

You can’t have it all — at least at the same time
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Figure 5: Income and care during life cycle 1997
Hours spent caring for children or household per week/
Purchasing power in 1000 guilders per year
50
40
30
20
10
25 35 45 55 65
Age
purchasing power
man
woman
The line in the middle stands for a person’s economic position. Exactly at the peak of ‘caring’, we see
a serious decline in purchasing power (purchasing power being the net result when gross income plus
family allowances, etc., have been lowered to reflect tax deductions and household size ). This dip is
caused by two factors. Firstly, more persons depend on the same income; secondly, in the
Netherlands, most women tend to shorten working hours or completely stop working after the birth
of their first or second child. The latter reason definitely reinforces the former. The increase in the
male partner’s income usually does not compensate for the loss of the woman’s earnings. As a
consequence, most families in the Netherlands are breadwinner families in the middle of the family
phase and have a purchasing power one-quarter to one-third lower than in the liberia period. As in
the junior period, it should once again be noted that this is to be seen as a fact and not as a problem
per se. The general affluence levels in the Netherlands permit 60 percent of the mothers to stay at
home. Besides, everybody knows that children cost a lot of money and does not mind spending it
on them.
Consumptia
The term for this phase was chosen in view of the fact that it is turning into the golden age of the
life cycle. It is the period of gainful employment at the peak of the male career, supported by the
‘comeback’ of a lot of women into the labour market and increasingly by pocket-money jobs for
youngsters as well. In this phase, the house that most Dutch families bought when they started out
— another burden in the initial family phase — incurs relatively few costs or even produces a small
amount of equity as a consequence of the booming market. Apart from travelling, most of the
consumption in this phase is less conspicuous. Much of it is spent on (pre)pensioning schemes, a lot
goes to children and grandchildren, and the rest is often simply saved.
Seniora
The phase of ageing encompasses the period after retirement. Since most employees in the
Netherlands receive high pensions, there is no sharp decrease in affluence after age 60 or 65, except