Early retirement schemes in the Netherlands are part of collective labour agreements (cla) and determined sectorally by social partners. Until 2005, tax-credits were available for the premiums and savings were exempt from taxes, making participation in these schemes attractive. These fiscal advantages were abolished.
Early retirement becomes a predominantly individual responsibility without state support. More and more, sectoral pension funds are abolishing their schemes.
State support for early retirement has been abolished. Parallel, social partners in most sectors have agreed to make early retirement schemes more sober, meaning that collective provisions for early retirement have become less important, although several transitional arrangements still exist for certain categories of older workers.
This specific measure has not been evaluated. However, various sources state that the average age of early exit as well as the labour-market participation of older workers have been increasing because of the combination of measures since the late nineties to individualise the responsibility to finance early retirement and to abolish fiscal credits.