Dutch Cabinet drops plan to accelerate state pension age increase after union pressure
After months of wrangling with Parliament, the Cabinet is withdrawing its plan to raise the State pension age in the Netherlands more rapidly, sources close to the decision told both RTL and NOS. The move comes after labor unions rebuked Prime Minister Rob Jetten’s center-right government for plans to cut unemployment and disability benefits while also pushing up the pension age.
All public transport workers plan to go on an initial morning strike next month because of the Cabinet’s social plans. Pulling back the State pension age increase is meant as an olive branch from Social Affairs Minister Hans Vijlbrief to the unions, NOS suggested.
The reversal centers on the controversial AOW proposal, a key element of the coalition agreement of the minority Cabinet made up of D66, VVD, and CDA. The plan would have sped up the rise in the state pension age starting in 2033, tying it more directly to life expectancy. The government had argued this was necessary to control costs linked to population aging.
The proposal had already drawn strong resistance in the Tweede Kamer, as well as from both trade unions and employers’ organizations. The political and social pushback intensified in recent months as negotiations over wider labor market reforms stalled.
In February, the Cabinet formally presented the plan to accelerate the AOW-age increase, setting out the link to rising life expectancy as the core mechanism for future adjustments.
Trade unions responded with an ultimatum: the government had to withdraw the planned AOW acceleration and also abandon planned cuts to the WIA disability benefits system and WW unemployment insurance, or face large-scale strikes. VNO-NCW, the employers’ organization, also demanded that the AOW measure be dropped. Its new chair urged the Cabinet to pause the WIA and WW cuts as well to restart talks with unions.
The Cabinet is now freezing the planned WIA and WW cuts, but they remain formally in place while negotiations continue with social partners. The government says it will focus talks on the future affordability of the AOW system instead of implementing the contested acceleration.
