From a #ManTax to sustainable entrepreneurship: De Koffiejongens and Project Fearless unite!

In October 2021, Amsterdam-based sustainable coffee brand De Koffiejongens started the world’s first #ManTax (#mannentoeslag) campaign. For the month between the International Day of the Girl on October 11th and Equal Pay Day on November 10th, they gave men the opportunity to pay 14% more for the same coffee as, on average, men are still paid 14% more for the same work in the Netherlands.

How did the #ManTax idea come about?

While expanding their team, De Koffiejongens founders Corné and Walter noticed something strange. Although men and women were applying for the same roles in the company, there was a consistent and noticeable gap in the salaries they requested. Sadly, no prizes for guessing who was asking for higher pay: the men, every time.

The stark gap in salary expectations shocked Corné and Walter. They were mystified, too. Why was there such a big difference in what women and men expected to be paid for the same role? They decided to look into it, and see if there was anything they could do to help raise awareness on the issue.

So the #ManTax idea was born. They’d be the first brand in the world to introduce the concept, highlighting the persistent wage gap in the Netherlands by giving their customers (men, and anyone else who wanted to get involved) the option to pay 14% more for their usual coffee.

How was Project Fearless involved?

De Koffiejongens wanted to do more than raise awareness on gender and financial equality issues. They were determined to use the money raised from the #ManTax campaign to support organisations working to increase equality in future generations.

So Corné and Walter got in touch with our founder Mérida. They’d heard about the work we do at Project Fearless to support girls to develop confidence, use their voice for positive change, and aim for any goals they want to — not just stick to what social pressures or stereotypes tell them they should do, be or think. And they wanted to use the proceeds from the #ManTax campaign to support Fearless futures!

What happened next?

As you might imagine, De Koffiejongens’ bold #ManTax move caused quite a stir. News features, interviews and social media buzz. A lot of support, which was wonderful to see. But, as we suspected, there were plenty of sexist responses too — which just goes to show how important and necessary the campaign was in the first place!

To debunk the most common myths raised by commenters complaining about the campaign, De Koffiejongens published a brilliant guest blog by Sophie van Gool, author of ‘Why Women Earn Less - And What We Can Do About It’ (Dutch original: Waarom vrouwen minder verdienen – en wat we eraan kunnen doen).

Sophie’s blog inspired us to write our own, featuring some of the most misguided comments we saw on social media and incorporating Sophie’s insights to explain what's really behind the 14% Dutch gender pay gap.

The comment: Men simply work more and take less time off.

“Women are not paid less, women generally work fewer hours and are absent more on average. That so-called 14%, which is very debatable by the way, is therefore also quite logical”

Sophie explains the facts:

It’s true that women are more likely to work part-time — but much of their supposed ‘free time’ is then used for unpaid work in their household, childcare, informal care and voluntary work.

OECD figures show that women and men in the Netherlands actually work the same hours on average. However, about half (3.7 hours) of women’s working day is unpaid, while for men only a third (2.4 hours) of it is unpaid.

Just because we don't pay for that work doesn't mean it has no value. The estimated contribution of women's unpaid work to the global economy is $10,800 billion. That’s more than the combined revenues of the world's 50 largest companies (such as Apple, Amazon and Shell).

The comment: Men are more likely to ask for a raise.

“That 14% extra can simply be explained. Men work harder or more often. In addition, they generally ask for less leave. Men are also more likely to ask for a raise than women. These are all reasons why a man gets 14% more.”

Sophie explains the facts:

Research from Harvard Business Review shows that women are just as likely to ask for a raise as men, but are less likely to receive it. This has to do with (unconscious) prejudices. When women ask for a salary increase, employers tend to look more at their past performance: has she already proven it? If not, then it’s safer to keep her on a lower rate for another year. With men, however, employers tend to look more at their potential: do we believe he can do it? Yes, so let’s go for that higher salary!

The comment: Differences in ambition explain the wage gap.

“Men and women generally simply have different ambitions. Hence, there is also a difference between their earnings. Is that so bad?”

Sophie explains the facts:

It’s true that typical ‘women's professions’ – such as care, childcare, education – pay less than typical 'men's professions'. But how come? Is there a surplus of employees? Do they require less training? Or are those professions less important?

Not at all: in the corona crisis, it turned out that about two thirds of the crucial professions are carried out by women. These are professions that we know we can’t live without, in sectors where there are often large shortages, high workloads and low salaries.

Can't women just choose sectors that pay better, then? The French feminist and sociologist Évelyne Sullerot showed back in the 1970s that it’s not that simple. She described how, as more women enter an industry, the prestige and pay in that industry as a whole decline. This theory has come to be known as 'Sullerot's Law'.

Over the years, this phenomenon has been researched and confirmed by several economists. Work done by women is simply less valued than work done by men. In recent years, we’ve seen this in (primary) education, in the judiciary and among general practitioners.

The comment: Women should work harder, whine less and be smarter.

“Those women should work a little harder and more efficiently, whine less and be smarter.”

The reality:

Uffff. Need we say more?

From active allyship to an all-new entrepreneurship course!

Active allyship is what creates real change, and we’re thankful for De Koffiejongens’ bold, creative moves to fight for gender equality. And it turned out that the #ManTax campaign was only the start of our collaborative journey!

Starting in March 2022, we’ll be welcoming girls and non-binary youth onto a brand new entrepreneurship course, co-created with the team from De Koffiejongens. They’ll learn the basics of sustainable business from a diverse range of female entrepreneurs, and build their own business plans over the 8-week course.

Is your company interested in co-creating a similar course or campaign with Project Fearless? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch at info@projectfearless.org

Written by Project Fearless copywriter, Abi Malins.