From Strategy to Reality: The Dutch Implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025

Abstract

Gender inequality constitutes a persistent and multifaceted challenge in modern societies. While the European Union’s Gender Equality Strategy (GES) 2020-2025 marks a crucial step toward advancing gender equality across Europe, its implementation varies significantly among Member States. To better understand how the GES is integrated in a country often regarded as a leader in gender equality, this thesis examines how and to what extent the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 is incorporated into Dutch emancipation and work-life balance policies, and how this integration is framed within corresponding Dutch policy documents. Using a qualitative research design, the study combines a policy frame analysis of 15 key policy documents on emancipation work-life balance with semi-structured expert interviews conducted across different levels of policymaking. Findings reveal that the integration of the GES into Dutch policy remains limited, with three key themes emerging from the analysis. First, while the Netherlands formally supports the Strategy, its influence is largely symbolic and driven mainly by pragmatic compliance with binding European Union (EU) legislation, such as the Work Life Balance Directive. Beyond such obligations, the GES primarily serves as a reference point for internal coordination and discourse, rather than as a driver of substantial policy change. Second, Dutch emancipation and work-life balance policies are predominantly framed through an economic lens, focusing on increasing labor market participation rather than addressing gender equality as a matter of social justice. Third, structural factors, particularly the entrenched Dutch part-time work culture and traditional caregiving norms, pose significant barriers to transformative change. Overall, these findings highlight that the translation of EU initiatives depends not only on formal policy alignment but is also shaped by national contexts, including welfare state traditions, gender norms, and institutional structures, as well as by principles of subsidiarity. As the EU prepares for the next cycle of gender equality initiatives, this study stresses the need to align formal policy instruments with deeper cultural and institutional reforms at the national level to achieve meaningful progress towards gender equality and a gender-equal economy.