Mortality Differences Related to Socioeconomic Status and the Progressivity of Old-Age Pensions and Health Insurance: The Netherlands

Author: Nelissen J.H.M.

Source: European Journal of Population/ Revue europenne de Dmographie, Volume 15, Number 1, March 1999 , pp. 77-97(21)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Research on the progressivity of the social security system generally does not take into account the existence of differences in mortality rates between socioeconomic groups. For the Netherlands, these differences result in a difference in life expectancy between persons with a lower education and persons with a higher education of about 4.5 years. On a lifetime basis this results in a net loss of about Dfl. 90,000 for the group with a lower education in comparison with the group with a higher education. This means that the return from various social security schemes no longer appears to be the highest for persons with a lower education. In particular, the group with a middle level education now gains from the system. Due to these differences in life expectancy, the redistributive impact of the social security system, as measured by the Theil coefficient, is decreased by about 6%.

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: CentER, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands (Phone: +31 13 466 3103; Fax: +31 13 466 8068; E-mail: j.h.m.nelissen@kub.nl)

Publication date: 1999-03-01