Family life

Family life in the Northern Netherlands

We have the shortest average working week in the world, which is because many of our parents choose to work part-time, something often easily facilitated by employers if that’s what you choose. 

As you can imagine, children are all-but born on a bike; starting out being carted around on a bakfiets (in English a ‘cargo bike’, although here the cargo is often a toddler), and being transitioned into independent riding at around three. That means our children spend a lot of their time outside and being active. 

Moms and dads are generally pretty equal, and men are expected to change diapers and do the dishes alongside women. That being said, it is often women who choose to take more time off work to look after the kids: although stay-at-home dads are becoming more common.