A work-based savings scheme, allowing workers to save a percentage of their salary to fund a sabbatical (levensloopregeling), has flopped because it is too complicated and too-focused on the long term, the plan’s architect Lans Bovenberg tells Monday’s Volkskrant.

Instead, workers prefer to keep their money in the ‘save as you earn’ savings scheme or spaarloon system, which gives an immediate tax break on savings. Only 5% of workers who have to choose between the two schemes decided to build up a fund to take time off work, the paper says.