Newsletter Newsletters Events Events Podcasts Videos Africanews
Loader
Advertisement

Swiss voters back raising the female retirement age to 65

Ballot box in Switzerland's referendum
Ballot box in Switzerland's referendum Copyright  AP Photo
Copyright AP Photo
By Euronews
Published on
Share this article Comments
Share this article Close Button
Copy/paste the article video embed link below: Copy to clipboard Copied

The Swiss voted by an extremely narrow margin in a referendum on Sunday to raise the retirement age for women from 64 to 65.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Swiss have voted by an extremely narrow margin In a referendum to raise the retirement age for women from 64 to 65. 

The result of Sunday's vote paves the way for the country's first pension reform in 25 years and is intended to stabilise the national pension situation at least for the next few years. 

A small majority of those who voted — 50.6% — backed the change. The left, trade unions and women's associations had rejected the increase, arguing that the state should focus first on equalising wage earnings between men and women.

"It is above all a defeat for those women who work hard, have a small wage and cannot decide for themselves when to retire," said Barbara Gysi, a National Councillor from the Social Democratic Party.

Much like in other western nations, Switzerland is under stress as a bulge of baby boomers reach retirement age. This is the main factor for the change, according to Interior Minister Alain Berset.

"At least we have succeeded in reforming pensions after 25 years and thus stabilising its finances. This step was really necessary, it allows us to cope with demographic change in the coming years," he said.

In Switzerland this is an emotive issue. Protest rallies have been held in some cities — motivated by the pensions equalisation, but also the gender wage gap, which stands at 43%.

Go to accessibility shortcuts
Share this article Comments

Read more

Bank pledges €500m for nature-based solutions. Can greening your money help fight climate change?

Greece will raise pensions in 2023, says PM Mitsotakis, for first time in more than a decade

May Day rallies: France pension reforms spark anger as tens of thousands protest after election