A chronology of the vote on the women’s retirement age
Published: Thursday, Dec 12th 2024, 05:40
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In September 2022, Swiss voters narrowly approved an increase in the retirement age for women as part of an AHV reform. Two years later, it became known that the figures provided by the Federal Social Insurance Office at the time of the referendum were incorrect. Left-wing parties then lodged an appeal. On Thursday, the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne will now decide whether the vote should be repeated. A chronology summarizes the events.
December 15, 2021: Parliament proposes raising the retirement age for women from 64 to 65. This is part of the planned AHV-21 reform to stabilize the AHV. Left-wing circles announce a referendum.
January 4, 2022: An alliance of trade unions, associations, the SP, the Greens and feminist collectives has launched a referendum against the pension reform. The alliance argues that the planned increase in the retirement age is intended to make savings at the expense of women. Instead of finally delivering on the promise of a living AHV pension, parliament is once again attempting to weaken the AHV.
March 25, 2022: The referendum committee against the AHV reform submits 151,782 signatures to the Federal Chancellery. Three times more signatures than required are collected before the deadline.
April 29, 2022: The referendum against the AHV reform has officially been held.
September 25, 2022: Swiss voters narrowly say yes to AHV reform. The proportion of yes votes is 50.6 percent.
August 6, 2024: The Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) corrects the AHV financial outlook. AHV expenditure in 2033 is likely to be around CHF 4 billion or around 6 percent lower than previously calculated. Minister of the Interior Elisabeth Baume-Schneider orders the opening of an administrative investigation.
August 9, 2024: The SP Women Switzerland and the Greens Switzerland file an appeal against the 2022 vote. They argue that women were deprived of a year's pension in the extremely close vote using false arguments.
October 23, 2024: FSIO Director Stéphane Rossini announces his resignation at the end of June 2025.
December 6, 2024: The administrative investigation shows that the inflated figures for the AHV financial perspective were not based on a calculation error. According to the investigation, the gloomy outlook of the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) presumably had an influence on the referendum. Two functions would have driven up AHV expenditure in the externally validated calculation program for the AHV financial perspective and thus led to implausible forecasts in the long-term perspective of over ten years.
December 12, 2024: The Federal Supreme Court decides in public deliberation on a possible new ballot on the increased retirement age for women.
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