Stopping work before the statutory retirement date

The government approved its reforms to pensions some time ago, but what is the reality? According to the latest pension survey by HR expert Acerta, more than 9 in 10 employees do not want to work until they are 66. 41% would even like to retire at 59 or earlier.

In recent weeks, there has been quite a stir concerning the federal government’s new measures for pensions. These will largely come into force in 2027 with the introduction of a bonus-malus system. The Federal Planning Bureau also recently raised some concerns about the measures, which are intended to reduce the number of employees retiring early and encourage them to continue working beyond their statutory retirement age.

The statutory retirement age has been 66 since 1 January 2025 and it will rise to 67 from 2030. But are employees actually on board with this? When do they want to retire?

To get straight to the point: the vast majority of the employees that responded to Acerta’s pension survey want to retire earlier than the statutory retirement age (66). 92.1% want to work no later than the age of 65. Two years ago, this percentage was considerably lower (80.5%), and at that time the statutory retirement age was still 65. 41% of respondents even state that they would like to retire at the age of 59 or earlier. Only 7.9% say they would like to retire at 66 or later.

Another striking finding was that half (51%) of those in their twenties and thirties would actually like to leave the labour market before they turn 60. At the same time, employees are still realistic: only 44% expect to actually be able to retire before their 66th birthday.

Employees do realise that in reality, they will have to work longer. While 92.1% want to retire earlier than the statutory retirement age, only slightly more than four in ten employees (43.9%) expect that this will actually be possible. Almost six in ten (56.1%) say they expect to continue working until at least the age of 66.

Mieke Bruyninckx, legal expert at Acerta: ‘Willingness to work longer has not increased in recent years, even though the statutory retirement age has been raised and the pension bonus aims to encourage people to remain in work for longer. Last year, the statutory retirement age was raised to 66, and from 2030, it will rise to 67. The impact of the pension reforms, which also tighten the rules on early retirement, means that some employees will have to work longer.

We advise employers to pay attention to employees’ motivation to extend their careers. A manageable level of work is the key: if jobs offer sufficient scope for autonomy, feasibility and flexibility, then working longer can genuinely become a desirable choice. This can be achieved, for example, by providing adapted work arrangements, new roles or different positions, whether that’s within the same company or another one through a staff-sharing scheme.’

Preferences for retiring earlier vary according to age. Strikingly, as the age of the employees surveyed increases, so does their enthusiasm for working longer. No fewer than 93% of 18- to 35-year-olds want to work until the age of 65 at the latest. Just over half (51%) actually want to retire at 59 or earlier. Among those aged 55 and over, the figures are slightly better: 86.2% want to continue working until the age of 65 at the latest.

This stands in contrast to the age at which younger employees think they will actually retire. While barely 7% of 18 to 35-year-olds and 5.7% of 36 to 45-year-olds want to work until the age of 66 or older, 61.5% and 65.6% of them, respectively, believe they will have to carry on working beyond the age of 66. In other words, many expect that they will have to tighten their belts.

The fact that employees will sometimes be penalised and receive less money if they retire early is not a popular idea. As many as 7 in 10 employees (70.3%) are somewhat to strongly opposed to retirement being penalised in this way. Opposition is strongest among those aged 55 and over. Almost 75.1% of them are somewhat to strongly opposed to the penalty. Incidentally, the strongest opposition is found among manual workers and women. Nearly 8 in 10 manual workers (79.8%) and 3 in 4 women (74%) are somewhat to strongly opposed to it.
The bonus scheme, whereby working beyond the statutory retirement age increases the pension received, is viewed more positively: nearly 2 in 3 (62%) are (strongly) in favour of the measure. However, this enthusiasm wanes as employees draw closer to retirement.

Finally, one finding is striking: as many as 52.6% of respondents are not considering extending their working life in order to receive the pension bonus. 39.7% might consider it. The number of employees who do not wish to continue working in order to receive the pension bonus increases as retirement approaches: among 18- to 35-year-olds, 35.3% say no, whilst among those aged 55 and over, 7 in 10 (69.9%) do not wish to continue working for the sake of the bonus.

This data comes from the annual survey (‘Spiegelbevraging’) conducted by Acerta with the support of Bart Meuleman, who works as a sociologist, survey methodologist and lecturer at KU Leuven. The survey was carried out by research agency Indiville, using a sample of more than 600 Belgian employers and over 2 000 employees.