Although the number of female self-employed workers has increased enormously in recent years, the male–female ratio has only marginally shifted in favor of women. Nor have there been any notable shifts within the different sectors: where most female professionals are already active (healthcare, services) the largest growth occurs, both in absolute and in relative terms.
What, at first glance, seems less logical and is therefore all the more striking is that there has been a shift in education level between female and male self-employed (zzp’ers). Female self-employed are (relatively) increasingly more highly educated than male self-employed, not least because the average education level of men has not risen over the past 10 jaar but has even declined slightly.
In light of these developments, it is remarkable that the earnings of female self-employed people still generally lag behind those of their male colleagues. Research by online bank KNAB shows that highly educated women working as self-employed earn 13 percent less than highly educated male self-employed people.
Along those lines, there are also large differences in the way their pensions are built up. Female self-employed (zzp’ers) contribute almost 30 percent less to their pension account than men. That appears from research byBright Pensioen. According to Karin Jakobsen, director of Bright, that difference is not only due to the fact that female self-employed earn less and therefore can set aside less. It also has to do with the fact that women more often take on caregiving tasks and therefore can work fewer hours.
Nevertheless, women who work in sectors where they receive lower pay as freelancers are generally satisfied with the salary they get. 65 percent of respondents are happy with the hourly rate they receive. For the self-employed who are not satisfied, it pays to pay attention to negotiation skills. Research by Felice van Berendschot of Tilburg University showed that women are most likely to get a higher rate if they negotiate with a woman. So the more women take seats in management, the greater the chance of an end to the wage gap between men and women. Moreover, recent research by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis shows that introducing a women’s quota works to get more women employed by listed companies. There is still quite a lot of work to be done. Only 1 in 5 companies meets the quota.
There is one sector where women don't lose out on pay: the IT sector. That is also the sector with the highest hourly rate. In ICT and business services the average rate is 100 euros per hour. The average annual turnover in these sectors is between 120,000 and 140,000 euros. ICT is also a sector with considerable shortages. What's more: it is the sector with the largest staff shortage. There is especially demand for software developers and security specialists. Of the people who now work in ICT, 81,000 do so as self-employed. The distribution between men and women in ICT is as follows: 83 percent is male, 17 percent is female.
For certain competencies, certain skills, certain requirements also apply. And gender, like other differences between professionals, of course has nothing to do with that. At Circle8 we have set this out in our anti-discrimination policy. And we have some great clients with even greater assignments available:look for yourself!
