A Decade Of Pension Reform In The Netherlands: What Are The Lessons All Of Us Can Learn From This Story?

"The Netherlands are moving towards a new pension system, which requires a great deal of effort from all parties involved: employers, employees, trade unions, work councils, pension providers, and asset managers."

NautaDutilh law firm, may 2024

“Following a process of over more than a decade, the largest-ever reform of the Dutch pension system, itself the largest occupational pension system in the European Union, is finally nearing a close. ”

IPE Magazine, December 2024

“Agnes Joseph’s proposed Entry Referendum to the new pension system is an example of sham democracy. How many plan participants will be able to make an informed choice? This amendment to the Future Pension Act is likely to be further amended and debated in Parliament in March.”

Pensioen Pro, January 2025 
"Path Dependence refers to processes where past decisions constrain later decisions. It challenges new decisions that pay insufficient attention to earlier decisions.”

Wikipedia

Requiring a Great Deal of Effort

This Letter is not the place to detail all the complexities of the transition of the former Dutch occupational pension system to a new one. However, the three articles cited above provide a flavour of the decade-long Dutch reform effort, and indicate why this effort has been problematic. The goal of this Letter is to understand the lessons that can be learned from the Dutch experience, so that they can be put to good use in the design and execution of any future country effort to reform its retirement income system.