Over 850,000 Dutch employees not saving for retirement

Some 856 thousand Dutch employees are not building up a pension, according to a study Statistics Netherlands did on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. That amounts to 13 percent of all Dutch employees. Previously the Ministry estimated that only 4 percent of employees are not saving for retirement, RTL Z reports.

The fact that the number of people without pension accrual is so much higher than previous estimates is probably due to the fact that a different measurement method was used, not because there was an actual increase, according to Minister Wouter Koolmees. Most employers are affiliated with a pension fund and employees at those companies then have part of their wages deducted for retirement savings. But employers are not obliged to do so. The number of employees affected by this is therefore higher than previously anticipated.

Especially young employees are not building up pensions. Half of the employees without a pension are younger than 35 years old. First generation immigrants, single people, flex workers and people in commercial services also often don't have pension funds, Minister Koolmees wrote in a letter to parliament.

According to the Minister, the lack of pension accrual for many temporary workers is especially striking, as it is mandatory for flex workers to save for retirement. A third of all temporary agency workers don't do so. This is partly due to a waiting period of 26 weeks, but not completely. Half of temp workers have been working for a temporary employment agency for over 26 weeks, yet 25 percent of this group do not accrue any pension. Koolmees will investigate how this is possible and will discuss it with the temporary employment sector, he said.