Proefschrift Willemijn.indd

During the past decade, having higher education has become increasingly common among both males and females in the US and in Europe. In 2006 one quarter of the people had received a degree in higher education in the Netherlands (which includes a university degree or a degree of a School for Higher Vocational Education). In 1981 this was only 18 per cent, see Table 1.1. A person with higher education often has a spouse who has also invested in human capital.1 Costa and Kahn (2000) refer to couples, of which both members have received a higher education, as ‘power couples’. The number of power couples has increased rapidly in the Netherlands. In 1981 only 5 per cent of households consisted of power couples, while in 2006 this percentage had increased to 10 per cent. The last line of Table 1.1 shows another