In Switzerland, the retirement age for women workers is increased. In doing so, the difference with male colleagues is eliminated. This is the result of a referendum organised by the Swiss government. The change to the Swiss pension system was adopted with 50.57 percent of the vote, while 49.4 percent of the referendum participants rejected the proposal. In Switzerland, the retirement age for men is 65. So far, women have been able to finish their careers a year earlier. However, due to the new referendum, Swiss women will not be able to retire until the age of 65 in the future. The Swiss government had already tried to implement a similar reform for the first time eighteen years ago. But that proposal was voted down at the time. A second attempt five years ago did not bring success either. The pension increase for Swiss women has already been approved by parliament, but had to be confirmed by a referendum. At the same time, an increase in value added tax also had to be voted on. According to the Swiss authorities, the measures are necessary in order to continue to cover the expenditure of the pension system. ” After all, the number of pensioners is growing faster than the population of working people, ” it was argued. “In addition, life expectancy – especially in women – continues to rise. Therefore, additional financial resources should be provided in order to maintain the balance of the pension system.” Opponents of the measure – including the trade unions and a number of left – wing political parties-stressed that women already face significant discrimination in the Swiss labor market. “Women generally receive lower wages than their male colleagues,” the critics objected. “As a result, women in Switzerland also receive a smaller pension than men. The new measures will also disproportionately affect women and lower income categories.” Statistics from the Swiss Ministry of Economics show that two years ago, women received 35 percent less pension money than men. According to left-wing parties, other gender inequalities should be addressed before the retirement age of women could be reached. However, other political trends pointed to the need to provide the Swiss pension system with greater financial stability. It is noteworthy, however, that the vote on the proposal also revealed clear differences between the Swiss language groups. In the French-speaking and Italian-speaking cantons of the country, the increase in the female retirement age was clearly rejected. In the German-speaking areas, however, the proposal did find a comfortable majority.
