Switzerland, whose aging population faces a rising cost of living, voted on Sunday in favor of a 13th month of retirement, a “historic” step according to its defenders, but rejected raising the retirement age. departure. The proposal in favor of a 13th month of retirement received 58.24% of the votes in the country, according to the final results, with participation slightly above 58%.
They also show that it won a majority of the votes in 16 of 26 Swiss cantons, more than half, which was a condition for adoption. On the other hand, the proposal to gradually raise the retirement age from 65 to 66 was largely rejected by 74.72% of the votes. The 13th annual month of retirement pension, like the 13th month of salary of many working people in Switzerland, was a proposal from the unions entitled “Living your retirement better”.
“The standard of living of retirees is eroding”
“We are going to party!”. “It’s historic”, commented to AFP Pierre-Yves Maillard, president of the Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB) who campaigned for “yes”. Because, “there is, like everywhere, a purchasing power crisis in Switzerland. The standard of living of retirees is eroding,” he stressed. This is the first time that the unions have managed to get a proposal adopted through direct democracy.
Monthly Swiss Social Security pensions are capped at 2,450 Swiss francs (2,570 euros) for a single person and 3,675 francs for a married couple, in a country regularly ranked among the most expensive in the world. In the city, the rent for a three-room apartment is at least 3,000 francs (3,150 euros). A coffee costs more than five francs. This initiative has a precedent in Europe: neighboring Liechtenstein, another expensive country that uses the Swiss franc, implemented a similar system several years ago.
“Significant victory”
The Greens party also hailed a “significant victory” for many retirees. Jakob Hauri, a retiree cited by the “Yes” campaign, is of the same opinion: “The cost of living is skyrocketing”, and the pension fund, “supposed to guarantee the subsistence minimum, is not keeping up”. Left-wing parties supported the initiative, but it was fiercely opposed by right-wing and centrist parties. As do the government and Parliament.
The government said the proposed increase would cost more than four billion Swiss francs a year, warning it would require tax increases and could threaten the financial stability of the Social Security system. He also estimated that the proposed change, for all retirees regardless of their financial situation, would bring only limited social benefit. The UDC, the radical right and the country’s leading party, had warned that this “irresponsible” initiative would allow freeloaders to exhaust the system.
This party campaigned for the no vote with the help of advertisements, including one showing hundred franc notes sucked into a manhole. This vote comes less than two years after Swiss voters narrowly decided to raise the retirement age for women from 64 to 65, as for men.