Title: The income and property of women in the agriculture and tourism sectors

Authors: Greet Overbeek

Addresses: LEI, Department of Public Issues, PO Box 29703, 2502 LS Den Haag, The Netherlands

Abstract: In the Netherlands, the task of earning an income and amassing property has shifted from the level of the household to that of its individual members. This also applies to agriculture and tourism-based family businesses in rural areas. The consequences of individualisation may be different for women who own a business or who are married to the owner of a business. Legal arrangements to divide and share property play an important role in this process. Relevant decisions are recorded in business and marriage agreements. In this article, the process of individualisation and its consequences for female spouses and business partners are analysed on the basis of the results of a survey among 331 farm women and 180 women in tourism. The results show that in agriculture few women own real estate and earn a taxable income of more than 10,000 euros. Half of the women in tourism own real estate and earn this amount of income. The differences between the women in the two sectors are the result of their labour position and the way they enter into marriage agreements concerning the division of property.

Keywords: marriage contract; real estate; women; agriculture; tourism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2003.002082

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2003 Vol.2 No.2, pp.125-139

Published online: 24 Jun 2003 *

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