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In de Wet toekomst pensioenen wordt overdracht van pensioenaanspraken zonder individueel bewaarrecht mogelijk. Dit artikel geeft alternatieven vormen voor medezeggenschap in plaats van een individueel bezwaarrecht

We empirically test an integral model for healthcare and child support benefits take-up using a probability sample of the Dutch population ( N = 905). To examine how different psychological factors, in conjunction, explain take-up, we apply model averaging with Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICC). For both types of benefits, people’s perceptions of eligibility best explain take-up. For healthcare benefits, take-up also relates to perceptions of need. Exploratory analyses suggest that for healthcare benefits but not for child support benefits, executive functions, self-efficacy, fear of reclaims, financial stress, and welfare stigma explain perceived eligibility. We find no support for knowledge, support, and administrative burden as explanatory factors in take-up. We discuss the results in relation to the Capability Opportunity Motivation Behaviour (COM-B) model for developing behavioural change interventions.

This paper introduces a new survey item through which to measure people's preferences toward income redistribution. Respondents construct their preferred distribution of after-tax income by changing the tax rates of the bottom four income quintiles. Taxes for the top quintile update automatically in order to keep government revenues fixed and take into account behavioral effects on pre-tax income. Data from a large, representative sample of the Dutch population indicates that around 50–60% of the respondents construct distributions that are more equal overall than the status quo, as measured by the Gini coefficient. Indeed, only 5% of respondents opt for greater inequality, but not beyond a flat-tax. Income ratios for the bottom and top half of the distribution indicate greater support for additional redistribution among those on higher rather than lower incomes. The validity of the responses to the new item is supported by their predictive power for voting behavior in the parliamentary elections almost three years later, even when controlling for a Likert scale. Two information provision experiments illustrate the richness of the new data.

This paper uses a randomized experiment in a representative sample from the Dutch population to investigate the effect of various defaults on retirement saving. In light of the Dutch pension system, with high contributions that afford generous income replace- ment but no flexibility other than the timing of retirement, we consider defaults that encourage less saving as well as more. The aggregate effects of defaults at deviations from the status quo are symmetric and large: they increase the fraction that either suspends or doubles premium payments for three years by 22 percentage points (pp) on a base of less than 10%. The status quo default is less powerful, raising the fraction by 6–13pp from a baseline around 60%. Rich survey data on demographics and prefer- ences matched with administrative records of wealth and forecasted pensions indicate that the different default effects are driven by different groups. A default of increased saving disproportionately affects those with self-control issues, but has a smaller effect on individuals prone to procrastination. Moreover, this is the only default that inter- acts with variables related to preparedness for retirement, with a larger effect on those with high housing wealth and high adequate expenditure goals. The saving reduction default affects women more strongly and has a weaker effect on university graduates.

Pension and housing wealth fell substantially during the Great Recession in many industrialized countries. This raised questions about the development of retirement savings adequacy. Using a unique combination of survey and administrative panel data from before and after the Great Recession in the Netherlands, we investigate co-movements between wealth and retirement expenditure goals. We separate ‘pure’ wealth effects from macro factors such as general pessimism. The estimates show that a shock in annuitized pension wealth of 100 euros reduced retirement expenditure goals with 23-33 euros. Whereas pensions drive the revision of goals for older indi- viduals, the results indicate that individuals between the ages of 25 and 49 are more sensitive to housing wealth. Furthermore, while other studies find that the reaction of current consumption to financial shocks is relatively strong for low-income households, we document that long term expenditure goals are adjusted more by high-income households. Simulations show that the fraction of individuals falling short with regard to their own retirement expenditure goal would almost have doubled during the Great Recession if individuals would not have adjusted their retirement expenditure goals downward.

This paper studies people’s preferences for formal long-term care services provided at home, and examines how long-term care preferences relate to saving motives, such as the relative importance and type of the bequest motive, the availability of informal care, and health expectations. To elicit long-term care preferences, we use a stated choice experiment fielded in the Dutch LISS panel in which we ask people to choose between long-term care insurance plans offering in-kind benefits provided at home that differ in generosity. The results show that there is viable demand for insurance that covers long-term care services at home. Long-term care services represent a different value for different people depending on individual characteristics and expectations about long-term care needs. Having children, access to informal care, and a strong strategic-bequest motive reduces the willingness to pay for formal long-term care services. These results contribute to the understanding of saving behavior after retirement and design of long-term care insurance policies.

Gemak dient de mens. Ik vind het handig dat mijn telefoon altijd weet hoe ik op de snelste manier van A naar B kan komen en indrukwekkend dat gepersonaliseerde medicatie onze kwaliteit van leven verbetert. Dat kan allemaal dankzij Big Data. Kunnen die ons ook helpen in het domein van werk en inkomen?

We present the results from a natural experiment in which single mothers on welfare were stimulated to find a job. Two policy instruments were introduced: an earnings disregard and job creation. The experiment was performed at the level of municipalities in The Netherlands, a country with relatively high benefits and low incentives for single mothers to leave welfare for work. In our analysis, we make a distinction between native and immigrant welfare recipients. For immigrant single mothers and some groups of native single mothers we find a positive employment effect of an earnings disregard. Job creation in addition to the earnings disregard increased working hours for some groups of single mothers. Although the outflow from welfare was not affected, welfare expenditures were reduced.