Swiss Vote for a Bigger Pension
Swiss voters have given themselves an extra month’s pension each year.
In a nationwide referendum focusing on living standards for the elderly.
The government had warned that the increased payments would be too expensive to afford.
But almost 60% of voters said ‘yes’ in Sunday’s poll separately, and 75% rejected raising the pension age from 65 to 66.
The maximum monthly state pension is $2,760 not enough, many say, to live on in Switzerland.
The cost of living in Switzerland, particularly in cities such as Zurich and Geneva, is among the highest in the world.
The initiative also secured the required double majority getting the popular vote and majorities in most of the country’s 26 cantons.
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The move brings the state pension into line with Switzerland’s salary system, which is also paid in 13 installments, meaning workers get a double payment in November.
The system was originally designed to help people ahead of Christmas, and the annual tax bill. As Swiss retirees pointed out, pensions were taxed too, and Christmas fun did not stop at 65.
In a further sign the Swiss are keen that life should not be all work and no play, they also overwhelmingly rejected raising the retirement age.
These votes would, the government said repeatedly, have to be paid for.
Voters, though, looking at Switzerland’s booming economy, whose success is in large part thanks to their hard work, clearly believe their country can afford it.
