Women working part-time make the gender gap in Switzerland

Women in Switzerland earn more than 40% less than men and withdraw less pension money, according to a report on the gender pay gap approved by the government on Wednesday, citing the high percentage of women working part-time.

The government’s research into the Gender Overall Earnings Gap (Gegg), which the Parliament requested in 2019, shows that Switzerland performs relatively poorly in the European context.

“In 2018, the GOEG for Switzerland was 43.2%. This means that women’s wages are 43.2% lower than men’s for all hours worked between the ages of 15 and 64,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In 2020, the pension gap between men and women was 34.6%, the agency found. The total annual pension for women averaged 35,840 Swiss francs ($36,456), 18,924 francs lower than that for men. This reflected differences in labor force participation, the effects of family and life models, and gender pay differences over time.

The data comes before Swiss voters decide in a referendum on September 25 whether to reform the state pension system by raising the retirement age for women by one year to 65 – the same age as for men – and raising Value-Added Tax to help fund the system.