Swiss parliament passes first pillar reform expected to face public vote
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Loading... - Derek Allen
- 23 Dec 2021
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The Swiss Parliament has officially concluded discussions approving the reform of the first pillar AHV that almost certainly will face a public vote next year following the opposition of left-wing parties and unions.
“The AHV reform stands, it should secure pensions for the next years,” the parliament said in a note, adding that efforts to reorganise AHV have failed in recent years; the last reform took place in 1997.
The AHV will need financing of CHF26bn (€24.9bn) by 2030 to function in the wake of an aging population.
The parliament voted in favour of increasing the retirement age for women from 64 to 65 years old as part of the reform package, and for a life-long compensatory measure for the nine cohorts hit by the increase of the retirement age.
The retirement age for women will see an increase of three months per year, a measure that should save CHF10bn in 10 years. If the reform comes into force in 2023, women born between 1960 and 1968 will be caught in the transition between the old and the new system.
Women can withdraw their pension at the start of their retirement age and receive a supplement based on their income, or they can withdraw their pension earlier but face a cut.
The pension supplement for women withdrawing pensions at the start of their retirement age amounts to CHF160 per month for incomes of up to CHF57,360 per year, CHF100 per month for incomes between CHF57,360 and CHF71,700 per year and CHF50 monthly for women with an annual income of CHF71,701 or over.
Women can withdraw their pension earliest from the age of 62 with pension cuts but to a lesser extent than before. Women with lower wages can still withdraw their pension a year earlier than the statutory retirement age without cuts, while withdrawing two years earlier leads to a reduction in pension by 2% and of 3% three years earlier. Read More…
