Netherlands: Working Past Retirement Age

Ann-Marie Michel of Radio Netherlands interviews Ger Thielen, co-ordinating secretary of the Taskforce for Older People and Employment, to address the "ominous rumblings" in Dutch newspapers about fewer workers caring for more retirees who'll live longer than ever and expect top quality of life and the government's push for drastic changes to the pension system in a bid to keep people working longer. With automatic retirement at 65--or earlier--likely to be a thing of the past, Thielen says:

You're always too late, of course, and looking at the demographic developments, I think we seriously have to try to improve participation of many people in a lot of areas, otherwise this complex society will not survive.

Source: "Working past the retirement age" Radio Netherlands (February 28, 2005)