The Swiss voted today overwhelmingly in favor of increasing pensions with an extra payment that would correspond to a thirteenth monthly payment.
Concern about voters’ cost of living outweighed doubts raised by the government about the impact the measure would have on public coffers.
An initial vote count published by SRF showed that 58% of participants supported the additional pension, a 13th monthly payment per year, with only 42% against, pointing to a stronger victory than the elections had suggested. final surveys.
The measure, which was promoted by the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and center-left parties, requires the support of the majority of Switzerland’s 26 cantons to be approved. The margin of victory meant it was probably safe, the broadcaster said. “This step is really a big milestone from a union point of view,” Lukas Golder of pollster gfs.bern told SRF.
The government, business lobbies and parliament, which currently leans to the right, rejected the proposal as financially unsafe. In the past, Swiss voters have been cautious about backing measures considered risky for businesses.
The pension vote contrasts with referendums in recent decades in which Switzerland decisively rejected proposals that would have shortened the working week and given people more vacation.
The Swiss capital, Zurich, tied with Singapore as the most expensive city in the world in a study published in November by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Mery, a 65-year-old voter from Zurich, said increasing pension payments made sense.
“I’m retired now and obviously I would like a little more,” she said, declining to give her full name. “I should be allowed to give something to my grandchildren.”
It is not clear how the pension increase, which would come into effect from 2026, will be financed.
The minimum old-age and survivors pension (AHV) in Switzerland is 1,225 Swiss francs ($1,393) per month, and the maximum is 2,450 francs. For couples the limit is 3,675 francs.
The Swiss also voted on an initiative to increase the legal retirement age, which was handily defeated.
