Pension reform could be 'softened': minister

Monday 22 August 2011

The cut in the state pension for people who stop working early when the pensionable age increases to 66 will be 'softened', social affairs minister Henk Kamp told the Volkskrant in an interview on Saturday.

The pension reform plan currently says that when the pension age rises to 66, people who stop working earlier will have their pension (AOW) cut by 6.5%.

The minister suggests that low-wage earners who opt to retire at 65 could be offered tax breaks each year from the age of 62. This money could then be saved in order to make the change from wage to pension 'easier'.

Kamp was speaking a week after members of the general workers union FNV Bondgenoten voted against the pension reform plan. The union said Kamp's suggestion was 'minimal'.

Two other big unions, civil service union Abvakabo and building workers union FNV Bouw, said the minister had not gone far enough.

The FNV federation as a whole will decide its position on September 12. 'If the answer is no, I shall proceed along the lines set out in government policy,' Kamp told the Volkskrant.

The reform plan was sealed between unions, employers and ministers in June and is backed by a parliamentary majority.

© DutchNews.nl

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