The retirement income of migrants in the Netherlands

The results show large differences between migrant groups in terms of sources of income and their relative importance. In general, migrants from countries that belong to the European Union and from former colonies receive a comparatively high retirement income from all three sources: they receive a higher state pension, a higher income from supplementary pensions, and more income from abroad. On the other hand, migrants from refugee countries receive a low income from all three sources. At the same time, certain groups receive income from specific sources that can be either high or low. For example, Moroccan and Turkish people have a comparatively high state pension (because they have lived in the Netherlands since long), but the amount of supplementary retirement income that they receive is relatively low (because they were often employed in low-paying jobs).

The differences highlight the heterogeneous character of migration histories and career experiences between groups, plus they demonstrate the importance of studying multiple groups and multiple sources of retirement income when trying to understand retirement poverty among migrants.