Babyboomers in the Netherlands: What the statistics say - Cbs
Babyboomers in the Netherlands: What the statistics say - Cbs
Babyboomers in the Netherlands: What the statistics say - Cbs
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2<br />
New<br />
life courses<br />
Today, it is quite normal: after secondary school you go<br />
to college or university, move to <strong>the</strong> city and get a place<br />
of your own. You meet someone nice, start dat<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
after while you move <strong>in</strong> toge<strong>the</strong>r. Eventually, you get<br />
married and start a family.<br />
The generation born before <strong>the</strong> Second World War<br />
structured <strong>the</strong>ir lives differently. After school, <strong>the</strong>y got<br />
a job but stayed with <strong>the</strong>ir parents, <strong>the</strong>y married from<br />
home and started a family. Women <strong>the</strong>n usually gave<br />
up paid work to become housewives and care for <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
children. For people born before <strong>the</strong> war, this was <strong>the</strong><br />
prevalent life course model: roughly 80 percent of men<br />
born before 1942 followed this standard life pattern.<br />
The baby boomers broke out of this pattern and<br />
experimented with new relationship forms. Cohabit<strong>in</strong>g<br />
before marriage was one such change, as well as<br />
wait<strong>in</strong>g (sometimes a long time) before start<strong>in</strong>g a<br />
family, mo<strong>the</strong>rs cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g to work after <strong>the</strong> birth of<br />
<strong>the</strong> first child, and divorce. The modern life course is<br />
<strong>the</strong>refore also called <strong>the</strong> flexible life course. The<br />
changes were rapid: only one <strong>in</strong> ten men born around<br />
1960 followed a standard life course.
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