Status: 09/25/2022 18:02
A pension reform had previously failed several times at the ballot box – now the Swiss voted narrowly for an increase in the retirement age. The government is thus aiming to stabilize the pension fund.
According to projections, the Swiss have apparently very narrowly agreed to an increase in the retirement age for women from 64 to 65. According to the provisional official result, around 51 percent of voters in the referendum on Sunday voted for the initiative to stabilize the pension fund.
An increase in VAT from 7.7 to 8.1 percent should also ensure sufficient funds in the pension fund. 56 percent voted for this step. During the referendum, citizens were also asked for their opinion on an end to factory farming. 63 percent rejected this. Voter turnout was around 52 percent.
Pension fund is to be stabilized with reform
The increase in the retirement age should stabilize the pension fund for at least the next ten years. According to the Swiss government, the step is necessary because baby boomers are reaching retirement age and life expectancy is increasing. The governments of the time had already tried to introduce a similar pension reform in 2004 and 2017, but failed at the polls.
Left and unions rejected the increase. “This is not a good day for women,” said an opponent of the initiative on Swiss television. First, it must be ensured that women earn as much as men, it said.
The step is to be cushioned with compensatory measures: If the reform comes into force as planned in 2024, women born between 1961 and 1969 will be able to take early retirement on better terms or receive a supplement if they work until 65.
Initiative for animal welfare fails in the vote
The opponents of the initiative for animal welfare and against factory farming reacted with relief to the clear no of the population. Agriculture is more heavily regulated in Switzerland than the energy sector, said Mike Egger, member of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), on Swiss radio.
The government had pointed out that the initiative wanted its strict standards to be applied to imports, but this would violate trade agreements. In addition, the prices would rise especially for meat. The animal protection organizations behind the initiative also wanted to enshrine the dignity of farm animals in the constitution and set stricter minimum requirements for animal husbandry.
Despite the defeat in the vote, some things will have to change in animal husbandry, said Green MP Felix Wettstein: “We have too many animals and they make too much manure.”