The redistributive impact of the general old age pensions act on lifetime income in the Netherlands

By means of a simple simulation model we will look at the effect of the General Old Age Pensions Act on the distribution of lifetime income in the Netherlands. In spite of the fact that premiums are proportional to income, whereas benefits are only dependent on marital status (married or unmarried), 1 1 An unmarried person gets 70% of the amount received by a married couple. , the redistribution of income is rather limited. This is especially true for the vertical income redistribution within a generation. This is caused by differences in mortality rates and differences in the duration of working life between income groups.