Trends in Spending Power among the Post-Active Population

ANBO (an organization representing the interests of senior citizens) commissioned SEO Economic Research, in collaboration with ITS Nijmegen, to calculate the spending power of the elderly over the 2009-2013 period. The calculations considered trends in spending power in static situations as far as possible: only households whose composition or source of income did not change were monitored over a period of time. The calculations showed that the spending power of the elderly declined more (by 6%) than that of people in work (by 1%).

A substantial part of the loss of spending power among the elderly is explained by a reduction in supplementary pensions. The abolition of the Chronically Ill and Disabled Persons (Allowances) Act (Wtcg) and the Excess Compensation Scheme (CER) mainly affects the disabled and the elderly, as they were more likely to take advantage of these schemes. The decline in wealth during the 2009-2011 period was in fact greater among those in work (7%) than the elderly (6%). This decline is due mainly to the fall in the value of owner-occupied homes.

Trends in both spending power and wealth are usually documented looking solely on the median trend. It is worthwhile to look at trends in spending power in terms of point clouds, frequency distribution and inequality measures such as the Gini coefficient as well.