Nearly half of workers can't make it to retirement
Nearly half of workers in the Netherlands (45 percent) say they can’t keep working until retirement age. But early retirement is financially unattainable for most, trade union CNV found in a survey among 2,700 members over age 45. If the retirement age increases to 70, two-thirds of workers fear they won’t make it that far.
Of the respondents, 57 percent indicated they had a physically demanding profession. Over 60 percent said they can’t stop working earlier because their income would take too much of a blow.
“Many of the respondents started working before the age of 20. They are simply burned out. It is completely unacceptable for the CNV that in a rich country like the Netherlands, so many people have to work until the collapse,” CNV chairman Piet Fortuin said.
The pension agreement concluded in 2019 includes a temporary scheme allowing people with demanding professions to stop working three years before retirement age. This early retirement scheme pays a benefit at the state pension level. It expires at the end of next year.
“The employer pays that benefit. But the benefit is not enough. People also have to bring forward part of their pension,” Fortuin told AD. “That is too much for people with a small pension.” They are forced to keep working until retirement age, whether they can physically handle it or not.
“The system is crushing these people,” Fortuin said, pointing out that more people are becoming disabled. The number of people with an occupational disability benefit is “skyrocketing,” he said. “And last year it was announced that the damage caused by burnouts is already 4 billion euros per year.”
The trade union urged employers and the government to come up with a new, better scheme for early retirement. The Dutch retirement age is linked to life expectancy and will only increase in the coming years. Intervention is needed for people working demanding jobs. “The construction worker and nurse have no interest in political scheming,” Fortuin said. “This can’t wait another day.”
