Nearly one in three people who took early retirement in recent years would face a pension penalty if the new measures were in effect today.
This statistic was revealed by Pensions Minister Jan Jambon (Flemish rightwing N-VA) in response to a parliamentary question asked by MP Kim De Witte (radical left PTB-PVDA) on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever's 'Arizona' coalition plans to reform Belgium's pension system as part of a wider strategy to implement budget cuts and address the federal debt. The reforms include a penalty for those who retire before the legal age, which was raised to 66 this year and will increase to 67 in 2027.
Starting from 2026, pensions will be reduced by 2% per year (until 2030), 4% per year (until 2040) and 5% per year (from 2040) for early retirees who meet the career length requirement but have fewer than 35 years with at least 156 days of effective work each year and a total of 7,020 days of effective work.
De Witte called the measure "unfair" in a social media post. His party has launched a petition calling for the penalty to be annulled.
A poster reading 'Stop Arizona' pictured during a national demonstration on Monday 13 January 2025. Credit: Belga / Hatim Kaghat
According to the Federal Pension Service (FPS), 31% of people who retired early in 2022 did not meet the requirement of at least 35 years of career with a minimum of 156 days of effective work each year and more than 20 years of work.
This affects 20,211 of the 64,306 people who took early retirement in 2022. The number of people potentially impacted by the measure from 2026 is estimated to be between 20,000 and 22,000 annually.
The new majority has also planned to revise early retirement conditions. From 1 January 2027, workers aged 60 and above can opt for early retirement after 42 years of career if they have sufficient effective work days. Only years with at least 234 days of effective work will count towards the required career duration.
Based on a sample of new retirees from 2022, the measure could mean that three or four in ten early retirees would have to delay their retirement by several months to several years.
