NETHERLANDS - The number of Dutch employees who want to carry on working until the official retirement age of 65 has doubled to 42% during the past five years, according to a new study.
The report from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) also found that only 13% of workers are prepared to stay in employment beyond the age of 65.
The conclusions were drawn from the National Labour Conditions Survey (NEA), conducted in cooperation with the applied technical research institute TNO and the department of social affairs.
The CBS, which saw 22,000 workers respond to their questionnaire, found that younger workers are most willing to work longer.
Only 20% of employees under 25 indicated they wanted to retire before 65, whereas twice as many over-55s want to stop earlier.
Higher educated employees are more often prepared to carry on until 65 than workers with an average or low education, according to the researchers.
With a positive response of only 30%, the willingness to carry on until 65 was the lowest in the building industry, the national inquiry revealed. In contrast, many workers in agriculture, fisheries as well as education and business services don't want to stop before 65.
Last month, a study by Aon Consulting suggested that almost 60% of Dutch workers wanted to retire early, even if it meant lower pension benefits or additional pension contributions (See earlier IPE story: Third of EU workers would retire early for less).
Aon found that 40% of employees accepted a rise in the official retirement age by two years to 67. Its survey also showed that workers in the property and public sectors were the most ready to accept the need to work longer, whereas employees in the building industry and retail sectors were the most prepared to stop earlier for a lower benefit.
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