Migrants’ retirement preparation: risk factors, causes, solutions

The number of retirees with a migration background in the Netherlands is larger than ever before (4.3 million), and will continue to rise in the years ahead. Surprisingly little is known about their retirement conditions and preparations (including timing and financial planning). This is worrisome, because many migrants are probably ill-prepared for their retirement, and pension funds may struggle to provide proper choice guidance (keuzebegeleiding) for this group. The aim of this Netspar project is to increase our understanding of this urgent societal issue. It consists of two sub-projects.

Project A provides a descriptive outlook of the (pre-)retirement conditions of migrants. It draws on register data of the entire Dutch population to examine, amongst others, public pension and social security benefits among migrants. Specifically, we compare (pre-)retirement conditions among different (a) migrant generations (first and second generation), (b) migrant origin groups, and (c) socio-economic categories. This allows us to make projections for which migrant groups will face poor retirement conditions in the nearby future.

Project B takes a more in-depth perspective on underlying causes and potential solutions for migrants’ retirement preparation. We will collect nationally-representative survey data (N=2500) among migrants and non-migrants to examine key factors, including: (a) retirement knowledge and pension communication, (b) future outlook, and (c) trust in pension actors. Understanding the role these factors play, will allow us to give advice to government and pension actors on targeted solutions.