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You are here: Home Finance & Business Pensions & Insurance Expats based in Europe worry most over pension benefits

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12/01/2010Expats based in Europe worry most over pension benefits

Expats based in Europe worry most over pension benefits A recent Expatica survey shows only 15 percent of expats polled are satisfied with their pension benefits.

Retirement and pension plans are a major concern of most expats based in Europe, revealed an Expatica survey.

The labour market survey which was filled out by 400 expats based in Europe showed they are not happy with their pension benefits.

The survey also showed that expats who have moved to Europe were generally happy with the labour policies and welfare benefits as compared with their home countries.

Expats in Europe least happy over pensions

According to the survey, 15 percent of expats based in Europe were satisfied or very satisfied with pension benefits. In contrast, 43 percent of respondents polled said they were happy with labour market policies and 42 percent said they were pleased with social welfare benefits.  

Reasons for expats’ dissatisfaction with pension benefits are many and varied.

Some expats said they don’t qualify for the full amount of state pension as they only spent a certain amount of years working in their newly-adopted country, while others complained they are paying into an unportable pension plan.

“You can only get a full pension here (the Netherlands) if you have been continually residing here since your 15th birthday. I moved here when I was 29, so I will automatically lose 28 percent of my pension benefits. My husband, who is Dutch and was born here, lived in the UK for 13 years, so will automatically lose 26 percent of his pension,” shared an Amsterdam-based expat who was originally from the UK.

Another British expat complained: “I am paying into a pension which I will be unable to claim should I leave the country – which is likely to happen before I am pensionable!”


Expats who have moved across continents added the financial crisis has also left them at the mercy of currency fluctuation.

“My retirement funds were accumulated in the US in dollars, and since moving to Belgium these have been cut nearly in half by the weakening dollar,” said a 61-year-old expat living in Wavre.

While most expats living in Europe do not think positively of pension benefits, expats based in France appear to be happier with the pension system. A British expat living in Chateauroux said: “In France, they  give you 50 percent of your best 10 years’ worth of salary and that is your pension. You also get a chance to top it up and get a better pension.”

Non-European expats happy in Europe

Expats from Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand ranked among the highest in satisfaction levels with labour market policies and welfare benefits compared to their counterparts from other parts of the world.
 
Expats from Australia and New Zealand are the happiest with labour market polices in Europe, followed by Asia, South America and North America, while European expats were the least satisfied.

Expats based in Europe who are (very) satisfied with the labour market policies in their country of residence:

•    Australian and New Zealand expats: 52 percent
•    Asian expats: 50 percent
•    South American expats: 50 percent
•    North American expats: 48 percent
•    African expats: 44 percent
•    European expats: 36 percent

 “Twenty vacation days legal minimum plus 18 compensation days equals 38 days of annual leave per year. This is 13 more days per year than I got in Canada (and that was after I had worked for my previous employer for over 18 years),“ said a happy Canadian living in Belgium.

The expat living in Brussels added that salary indexation which is available in many other countries in the EU is also a good way of ensuring that salaries keep up with inflation.

An Asian expat who is happy with the labour market polices said: “The Dutch labour market is more protective of the employees. This enables companies to think twice before they fire the employees."


Similarly, Asian, North American and Antipodean expats living in Europe expressed satisfaction with the social security and welfare system in their country of residence. European expats living in Europe ranked welfare the lowest at 37 percent.

Expats based in Europe who are (very) satisfied with the social security and welfare benefits in their country of residence:

•    Asian expats: 50 percent
•    North American expats: 48 percent
•    Australian and New Zealand expats: 47 percent
•    African expats: 44 percent
•    South American expats: 43 percent
•    European expats: 37 percent

“It seems that the taxes we pay are used very well – healthcare is great, the roads and parks are very much better maintained than in Australia, education is wonder, food is much cheaper,” said an Aussie expat based In the Netherlands.

This is a view supported by most expats who said despite the high taxes they pay, it is assuring to know that they will have access to unemployment benefits or can rely on state healthcare services should they become ill.

“Healthcare is included in the social security package in Spain; in the US it is not. I am very satisfied with the quality of healthcare here. In the US I worried about what would happen to me if something happened that my overpriced insurance wouldn’t pay for,” said a Madrid-based American in her 20s.

Expats: Europe is well protected but rigid

On the other hand, some expats cautioned the drawbacks of a strong social net in Europe.
A 31-year-old expat living in Belgium explained: “The result is that individuals are protected and supported by the state but to the point where it is many times more attractive for the individual to use those benefits to be a passive member of society rather than a contributory member of society.”

While most expats appreciate how much employees are protected by European laws, they agree it makes the labour market somewhat inflexible.

“The market is stagnated by the difficulty of firing employees. People are afraid to hire permanent employees because you can never get rid of them. So they hire less people or they play around with temporary contracts,” said another American expat living in France.  

Expatica


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