Men and women are different and the government should stop trying to make them ‘equal’

Speech by Lidewij de Vos,  

Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, 

23 April 2026

Men and women are different. In a world where egalitarian thinking threatens to erase every distinction, it is of the utmost importance not to lose sight of this fundamental reality. We are not the same and that is a good thing. Of course, there are differences within groups of men and women, but there are also, on average, differences between the groups.

It is against that background that we should view the supposed gender pay gap. First of all, analyses of this phenomenon often look at average income. There are indeed significant differences between men and women in this regard, but largely because women are much more likely to work part-time than men. We are talking about a difference of 65% of women versus 19% of men, that is a real gap. Naturally, this results in lower income, fewer promotions, and so on.

In addition, women are, on average, more often employed in sectors and types of jobs that pay less than those in which men are active. Think, for example, of healthcare and education for women, versus tech and the financial sector for men. This relates to average differences in interests, differences in willingness to take risks, and so on, with childcare also playing a role.

Having children has, by definition, a greater impact on women than on men, due to pregnancy, recovery from childbirth, and the care of a newborn, who is physically more dependent on the mother. Even after that, women on average more often choose to take on childcare responsibilities than men. There is nothing wrong with that, on the contrary, it is something beautiful to embrace. Moreover, every woman and man is completely free to make his or her own choices and arrangements in this regard.

When we make corrections for all these factors, very little of the pay gap remains. I therefore do not so much see a pay gap, but rather a gap between what the government wants men and women to do and what men and women themselves want to do.

Any attempt by the government to erase the differences in people’s life choices, by means of wage corrections, quotas, penalties for companies, and so on, brings serious problems. First, it increases the influence of an ever-expanding government apparatus that disrupts natural relationships between people. Moreover, it effectively leads to outright discrimination against men, who may miss out on positions because of their sex.

Finally, it is an insult to women. Women who achieve positions on their own merit are no longer distinguishable from those who reach them because of their sex.

In closing: those who truly see men and women as equal trust that they are capable of making their own life choices, at work, at home, or anywhere else.