The cabinet is planning to stop paying an extra allowance to younger partners of people claiming the state pension AOW earlier than planned, the Telegraaf reports on Sunday.

At the moment pensioners with a younger partner can claim their own state pension of €673 plus up to the same amount for their partner – if they don’t have a job or only work a few hours a week. Some 280,000 people currently do so, according to the NRC.
However, the Telegraaf says, ministers have decided that partners younger than 55 will no longer get an early pension from 2011. Ministers had already decided the partner payment will disappear completely in 2015. The cuts will save €170m a year.
Ministers are also planning to increase the state pension age gradually from 65 to 67.
The social affairs ministry is also planning to cut the extra allowances given to pensioners living abroad and the budget for spending on work reintegration projects, the paper says.
In total, the social affairs ministry needs to make savings of €400m next year.
The government is due to unveil its 2010 spending plans on September 15.