The Netherlands 2010

The Netherlands’ retirement income system comprises a flat-rate public pension and a quasi-mandatory earnings-related occupational pensionlinked to industrial agreements.

Most employees belong to these occupational schemes which are industry-wide defined benefit plans with the earnings measure based on lifetime average earnings.

The overall index value for the Dutch system could be increased by:

• introducing a minimum access age so that it is clear that benefits are preserved for retirement purposes;
• raising the level of household saving;
• increasing the labour force participation rate amongst older workers; and
• providing greater protection of members’ accrued benefits in the case of fraud, mismanagement or employer insolvency.

The Dutch index value increased from 76.1 in 2009 to 78.3 in 2010 due primarily to recognition of the level of mandatory contributions actually operating within the country.