“Men decide that women will have to work one year longer” Tamara Funiciello, National Councillor, SP, Berne long term. An additional and complex long-term debate is when – and indeed whether – a ‘revision for women’ needs to take place at all. The allegation that the larger number of women in parliament since the 2019 elections have achieved nothing is dismissed by the co-chairs of Alliance F. They cite the example of the women’s session organised in autumn of 2021, which brought two dozen petitions before parliament. Furthermore, women argued that additional issues should be discussed in parliament, such as individual taxation, the financing of childcare, a review of the law on sexual offences, marriage equality including access to reproductive medicine and the financing of a programme to prevent domestic violence. The key bills are already in progress, Maya Graf says in the “Aargauer Zeitung”. This also includes reform of the OPA. with unanimity, such as equal pay for the same work and paid childcare. A crucial point to note in the wake of the debate on the retirement age for women is the observation that women of every political inclination are demanding that women’s situation must be improved when they retire. Old-age pensions for many women are unsatisfactory, but this is not primarily the OASi’s fault. Since the major OASI reforms in 1997, the first pillar of the old-age pensions has greatly improved for women: education and childcare credits were introduced, together with provisions for sharing the pension between spouses. This sharing scheme involves totalling up the income earned during marriage by both spouses and using it to calculate the pension by giving half to each spouse. Gaps in occupational pensions The greatest difference between the sexes is the yawning gap in the second pillar: mandatory occupational pensions (OPA). Because women often earn less than men, their wage contributions to their pension fund are lower. Anyone who works parttime or who works in an industry with low salaries undertakes voluntary care work or is simply paid less for doing the same work can expect their retirement assets to be scant. The pension based on these assets is correspondingly small, especially as wages that are not only poor but also fall under a certain annual income level (currently 21,510 Swiss francs) are not covered by compulsory insurance. The focus in the wake of the narrow Yes vote on OASI pension reform is now on revising OPA pensions. The core issue is putting those working low hours or with a low income in “Not all women have to be equal either” Maya Graf, Green Councillor of State, Basel Land a better position to be able to save privately for their retirement. However, the second pillar suffers from similar issues to the first one: long life expectancies have made it more challenging to finance pensions, and this problem has been exacerbated by low interest rates. The yields from pension funds are too low to be able to convert policyholders’ retirement assets into pensions that will remain at current levels over the The three pillars of old-age pensions The maximum OASI pension is currently CHF 2,390 per person per month, and the minimum pension in most cases is CHF 1,195. These OASI pensions alone are not enough to live on in Switzerland. Two further pillars are required. In addition to the State OASI pension and supplementary benefits (1st pillar), an occupational pension from the pension fund was created in 1985 (2nd pillar). Finally, legally regulated private pensions (3rd pillar) have existed since 1987. The aim of this 3-pillar system is to ensure people will be able to maintain their accustomed standard of living when they retire. (DLA) Swiss Review / December 2022 / No.6 17
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