There should no longer be lifelong pensions for widows and widowers
Published: Friday, Dec 8th 2023, 15:10
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There will no longer be lifelong pensions for widows and widowers. The Federal Council has submitted amendments to the law for consultation that will treat all surviving parents equally. Mothers and fathers with dependent children and all others are to receive pensions for two transitional years.
On Friday, the Federal Council submitted changes to the old-age and survivors' insurance (AHV) for consultation until March 29, 2024. The proposals are in response to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and social developments.
Until the child's 25th birthday
The Federal Council writes that the system of lifelong pensions for widows and widowers no longer corresponds to social reality. More and more women are working and the roles of parents are distributed differently.
Benefits for surviving mothers and fathers should now be geared towards the time spent caring for and bringing up children. They are to be paid until the youngest child's 25th birthday. Anyone caring for an adult child with a disability should also receive the benefits for longer. The pension should be independent of marital status.
Anyone living in a marriage without dependent children or receiving maintenance payments from a divorced partner should only be entitled to a transitional pension after the death of their partner.
Once the children have completed their education, it can be assumed that the widowed father or mother will be able to support themselves or adjust their standard of living depending on their age. When the bill comes into force, widowed people over 50 with supplementary benefits should be able to keep their pensions.
Widowed people aged 58 and over without children who are at risk of poverty due to the death of their partner are to receive individual support as part of supplementary benefits. The Federal Council justifies this with the difficulties faced by older people in finding gainful employment or increasing their workload.
Pensions for young widows and widowers are abolished
As a transitional arrangement, it is planned to continue paying current pensions to widowed persons over 55 years of age without dependent children when the changes come into force. For younger people, on the other hand, current pensions are to be canceled within two years of the new legislation coming into force.
With this proposal, the Federal Council is responding to criticism from the ECHR. In 2022, it found that women and men are treated unequally when it comes to survivors' pensions in Switzerland. A transitional arrangement is currently in place to ensure that entitlement to a widower's pension does not end when the youngest child comes of age.
However, equal rights for widows and widowers should also bring relief. There is talk of around CHF 720 million in relief for the AHV and around CHF 160 million for the federal government. If the changes come into force in 2026, the new system should take full effect from 2035.
SGB: "Women particularly affected"
According to the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) in June, women would be particularly affected by the savings. Today, they receive almost 90 percent of survivors' benefits. Women are already more often in a difficult financial situation after the death of their spouse than men, the SGB wrote.
Instead of increasing women's pensions and securing the care and education work they have done through their pensions, widows' pensions would now be cut by millions, criticized the SGB. This corresponds to a further reduction in women's pensions.
In December 2021, around 8900 people under the age of 50 and just under 30,000 50 to 59-year-olds were receiving a widow's or widower's pension. Of these, 7960 and 28,830 were women respectively. According to the draft message, a total of 175,850 people currently receive a widow's or widower's pension totaling CHF 1.7 billion.
The reform does not affect widows' and widowers' pensions from occupational pension schemes. The pension is generally paid until the death or remarriage of the surviving spouse.
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