The pension age will hit 67 in 2021 not 2023 as planned earlier, according to draft legislation submitted to parliament by junior social affairs minister Jetta Klijnsma.

The proposal to speed up the transition to a higher state retirement age was included in the coalition government agreement.

Ministers say the retirement age needs to be raised more quickly because spending on social security is rising more quickly than economic growth. This means there is a structural government deficit and that the national debt is rising.

‘These conditions require the faster implementation of structural changes,’ Klijnsma said in a briefing on the new legislation for MPs.

The current legislation also says the state pension age will go up from 2024 in line with life expectancy rises. That will now be brought forward to 2022.

Given that the law states any further increase in the pension age must be announced five years in advance, that decision will be taken first in 2017. A bridging system is being worked out for people who will be hit financially by not being able to retire when they expected.