Dutch pension fund for healthcare, Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn
(PFZW), is to trial a pension fund for the self-employed working in the cultural sector.

In a blog post, PFZW director, Peter Borgdoff, announced that self-employed people are welcome. He noted that Dutch law does not allow self-employed people to participate in an industry-wide pension fund, which includes PFZW.

However, Borgdoff said that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment believes it is important for self-employed to save for a pension, therefore it is “going to give room to experiment”.

The pension will be available for those working for museums, theatres, concert halls, dance companies, stage technicians and orchestras, as well as others in the cultural sector. The trial is expected to begin in 2021.

He said PFZW was asked by those working in the sector to develop a pilot for the self-employed. The scheme will see contributions of 3 per cent from the member and 3 per cent from the client, with a total amount of 6 per cent of the member’s income going into the pot.

“If the test is a success and enough freelancers want to participate, then I would like to see the scheme extended to other sectors. Because there are more and more self-employed people also working in the health sector, and they too are entitled to a decent pension,” Borgdoff said.

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