The Swiss favour raising women’s retirement age

A recent poll has indicated that the majority of Swiss citizens agree with the Federal Council’s proposal of raising women’s retirement age to 65.

The current retirement age for women is 64 years, but a poll published on SonntagsBlick shows that many Swiss citizens agree that it should be raised.

According to the poll, 78 percent of men are in favour of the move, whereas women agree by 54 percent. Sixteen percent were against the proposal, whereas 18 percent were ‘rather unfavourable’ to it.

The poll – conducted on 1,336 people by gfs.bern – also shows that 89 percent of people surveyed believe that pension reform is needed, and are also in favour of creating new models of social security.  However, at 70 percent, the majority of those surveyed concluded that it would not be enough to discuss raising retirement age when those between the ages of 50 and 60 find it difficult to find new jobs.

Raising the retirement age for women has been proposed before, in 2004 and 2017, but Swiss citizens voted against the proposal. Political factors are also behind failing to implement the change, with some political parties refusing to accept the change as long as there is a wage gap between men and women.