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The Future of Retirement and the Pension System: How the Public's Expectations Vary over Time and across Socio-Economic Groups

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  • Bissonnette, Luc

    (Laval University)

  • van Soest, Arthur

    (Tilburg University)

Abstract

We analyze expectations of the Dutch population of ages 25 and older concerning the future generosity state and occupational pensions, the two main pillars of the Dutch pension system. Since the summer of 2006, monthly survey data were collected on the expectations of Dutch households concerning purchasing power of occupational pensions, eligibility and purchasing power of old age social security benefits, and the average retirement age ten or twenty years from now. We investigate how these expectations have changed over time and how they vary with socio-economic characteristics. Exploiting the fact that we have data until September 2010, we also analyze the effect of the recent financial and economic crisis. We find significant differences in expectations of different socio-economic groups, mainly suggesting that groups who are probably better informed were also more pessimistic.

Suggested Citation

  • Bissonnette, Luc & van Soest, Arthur, 2011. "The Future of Retirement and the Pension System: How the Public's Expectations Vary over Time and across Socio-Economic Groups," IZA Discussion Papers 5759, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5759
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    Cited by:

    1. Niu, G., 2014. "Essays on subjective expectations and mortality trends," Other publications TiSEM b9f72836-d8ad-478b-adca-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Barrett, Alan & Mosca, Irene, 2012. "Announcing an Increase in the State Pension Age and the Recession: Which Mattered More for Expected Retirement Ages?," IZA Discussion Papers 6325, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Luc Bissonnette & Arthur van Soest, 2015. "The Financial Crisis and Consumers' Income and Pension Expectations," Cahiers de recherche 1502, Chaire de recherche Industrielle Alliance sur les enjeux économiques des changements démographiques.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    old age social security; subjective probabilities; occupational pensions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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