As in many other European countries, the population in the Netherlands is ageing rapidly. It used to be common practice in the Netherlands to leave the labour market through early retirement and disability schemes. To tackle the rising economic burden that an older society may place on the working-age population, the Dutch government has passed several laws in the last ten years and implemented several policies in an attempt to increase the employment participation of older workers. Measures are taken to discourage early retirement. For example, since 2004 employers have to pay the first two years of sickness benefits, making early retirement through disability insurance much more expensive. Since 2012 the state pension age is being gradually raised from 65 to 67 years. Meanwhile, the mean age of leaving employment increased from 60.8 in 2000 to 63.9 years in 2013.