Men in the Netherlands Are Facing a Deep Struggle Across Every Part of Life

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Phone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@menandboys.net

Men in the Netherlands Are Facing a Deep Struggle Across Every Part of Life

October 24, 2025 – The numbers reveal a troubling reality missing from public debate—one that affects families, workplaces, and communities across the country.

Education:
Women now make up 54% of new entrants to tertiary programs (1). Among 20–24-year-olds, 46.4% of women are enrolled compared to only 39.2% of men (2). Once enrolled, women are far more likely to graduate on time—80% within three years, versus 65% of men. Education gender gaps also appear earlier: CBS data show 13,300 male dropouts from upper secondary vocational education (MBO), compared to only 7,400 female dropouts (3).

Health:
Life expectancy for men stands at 80.1 years, three years shorter than for women at 83.1 (4). The gap widens in adult mortality rates—65.8 deaths per 1,000 for men compared to 46.7 for women (5).

Homicide:
Men are twice as likely to be victims of homicide, at 0.93 per 100,000 versus 0.45 for women (6).

Suicide:
Suicide claims more than twice as many men as women, with rates of 15.4 per 100,000 men compared to 7.6 among women (7)(8).

Child custody:
After divorce, custody is unequal. About 70.6% of children live primarily with their mother, 6.4% with their father, and 17.6% in co-parenting arrangements, highlighting limited opportunities for fathers to share daily parenting responsibilities (9).

Domestic violence:
According to a CBS survey, in a one-year period 7.3% of men and 9.2% of women reported experiencing domestic violence (10). However, men face significant barriers in accessing help: only 37 shelter places for men have been reported in the Netherlands, spread across five organizations, compared to around 1,000 shelter beds for women (11)(12).

Homelessness:
Of 30,600 people recorded as homeless in 2023—0.17% of the population—men represented 80%, showing a stark gender imbalance (13).

Workplace:
In 2023, there were 66,644 non-fatal workplace accidents; 65% involved men (43,344 cases), compared to 35% for women (23,300 cases) (14).

Conclusion:
The Netherlands must recognize these inequalities and act to ensure that the well-being of men and boys is fully supported, alongside efforts to promote equality for all.

The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization working to celebrate men’s contributions to society and to end the 12 sex disparities affecting men and boys worldwide. Achieving #GenderEqualityForMen will also benefit women.
https://www.menandboys.net/

Links:

1.https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2025_1a3543e2-en/netherlands_26a700bc-en.html

2.https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/11/oecd-education-equity-dashboard-brief-for-the-netherlands_d94655ef/d171f197-en.pdf?utm

3.https://longreads.cbs.nl/trends19-eng/society/figures/education/?utm

4.https://www.statista.com/statistics/520408/netherlands-life-expectancy-at-birth-by-gender/

5.https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sp-dyn-amrt?gender=male

6.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide_statistics_by_gender

7.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.MA.P5

8.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.FE.P5

9.https://pure.knaw.nl/ws/files/1723019/2015_Kalmijn_CPS_publ_version_0082.pdf

10.https://longreads.cbs.nl/the-netherlands-in-numbers-2021/how-many-people-fall-victim-to-domestic-violence/

11.https://www.valente.nl/themas/facts-on-womens-shelters-in-the-netherlands/?utm