For International Women’s Day, I collaborated with GroenLinks Amsterdam on an illustration addressing a proposed policy that would reduce maternity pay by lowering the maximum daily wage. In Dutch, this penalty was referred to as de bevalboete, the birth penalty.
In practice, it would mean that many women receive less income during their maternity leave, effectively turning the decision to have a child into a financial setback.
The work is part of a broader, ongoing fight against structural inequality, highlighting how fragile progress can be when policies like these are put forward.
Following this campaign, the cabinet has now announced it will revise the proposal. A reminder that speaking out matters, and that collective action can lead to change.
GroenLinks Amsterdam also shared a series of posts to raise awareness around this issue: