What is regarded as a shared household under the AOW pension scheme?
If 2 people aged 18 or over live together and both regularly contribute to the household, they are regarded as sharing a household for the purposes of the AOW pension scheme. We will explain what that means.
When are 2 people considered to be living together?
We look at the actual living situation. It does not matter whether they are registered as living at the same address or at different addresses. What is important is the day-to-day situation.
Contributing to the household
There are 2 ways you can contribute to the household:
- by contributing to the rent, food or other costs, or
- by caring for each other by, for example, doing the cleaning, shopping, cooking, paperwork, or looking after each other if one of you is ill
When are you regarded as sharing a household?
There are 2 aspects that are important:
- contributions to the household must be significant, and
- contributions to the household must be made regularly, not just incidentally
Examples of contributing to the household
In the following examples, we explain what the we mean by ‘significant’ and not just ‘incidental’.
Anna has an AOW pension and lives in 1 house with her brother Rob. They share the household costs. Both of them take care of the cleaning and the weekly shopping. Anna and Rob are therefore regarded as sharing a household.
Liz has an AOW pension. Her grandchild Mika is a student and lives with her. Mika cleans the house from time to time and occasionally does the shopping, but the amount Mika pays is negligible. Liz and Mika are therefore not regarded as sharing a household.
Sasha has an AOW pension. She and her friend Bo live in the same house.
Sasha cleans the house, does the shopping, cooks and does the laundry. Bo pays the household expenses.
They both contribute to the household. Sasha and Bo are therefore regarded as sharing a household.
When are you always regarded as having a shared household?
For the purposes of the AOW pension scheme, some situations are always regarded as sharing a household. In these situations, we do not look at how much a person contributes to the household.
A shared household is regarded as existing if 2 people live in the same house and:
- they were previously married to each other
- they have previously lived together
- they have a biological or acknowledged child together
- they have a cohabitation agreement drawn up by a notary
- their household has already been classed as a shared household under other legislation or a benefit scheme
If you any questions about your situation
If the examples do not include your situation, or if you live with more than 2 people aged 18 or over at the same address, see the page ‘Which AOW pension rate applies in your situation?’