The ''Algemene Ouderdomswet'' ('General Old Age pensions Act, abbreviated AOW) is a 1956

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

law that installed a

state pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

for the elderly. This law was a continuation of a 1947 temporary law. The old law was a proposal by

Willem Drees Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...

, while the new one came about when he was

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. It is the one thing he is remembered for most and his name is immortalised in the expression ''van Drees trekken'' (literally 'drawing from Drees' after the Dutch word ''steuntrekken'' for receiving social security). The law provides for a base pension from an 'AOW age' which increases with time for everyone who had a

permanent residency Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...

(with or without work) in the Netherlands during the 50 years before his age catches up with the AOW age (2016: 65 years and 6 months; 2017: 65 years and 9 months). For those who have not been a resident in the Netherlands for a full 50 years, the amount is proportional. If a

pensioner A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

has a common

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

with someone else (for example in the case of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

), whether also a pensioner or not, the monthly amount is lower than if he or she lives alone.

References

Dutch legislation Welfare in the Netherlands 1956 introductions Age pension systems Pensions in the Netherlands {{Europe-law-stub