The Effects of the Increase in the Retirement Age in the Netherlands

We study the effects of the recent shift in the statutory retirement age in the Netherlands. The retirement age increased stepwise from 65 years in 2013 to 65 years and 9 months in 2017. We estimate the effects of this reform using differences-in-differences and administrative data on the universe of the Dutch elderly population. We find an increase in the employment rate of 16 percentage points and an increase in participation in social insurance of 20 percentage points for the additional months before the new retirement age. Net budgetary savings are about 80% of direct savings on retirement benefits.