After counting 100% of the votes in the 26 cantons, “No” to retiring at 66 He won by a large margin, obtaining 74.72% of the votes, while he won the consultation on the 13th annual payment for retirees with “yes”, with 58.24% of the votes.
The Swiss government and parliament had recommended “no” in both consultations, which would affect the Swiss pension system, called AVS (French abbreviation for Old Age and Survivors Insurance) which currently benefits 2.5 million people, out of a population of about nine million.
With an additional “yes”, the maximum AVS income for pensioners living alone will increase by approximately €2,500 per year, up to €33,300, and for couples of retirement age it will increase by €3,800, up to €49,900.
The government estimates that this increase in pensions represents a An additional cost of about 4.3 billion euros annually for the country, and that with the gradual aging of the Swiss population in the future, the additional cost could exceed 5.2 billion euros annually.
Promoters of this increase argued that it was necessary, at a time when expenses for the average Swiss citizen were rising, whether on health, food, housing, and electricity, due to the high costs of living. Economic inflation And some more Taxes.
The consultation on postponing the retirement age to 66 years not only aimed to set the new retirement age starting in 2033, but also to link it to average life expectancy.
Therefore, if life expectancy in Switzerland rises, as has been the case in recent decades, the arrival of the reform will be delayed, although the delay is a maximum of two months per year.
The postponement to 66 years, according to its supporters, would reduce the costs of the retirement system by 2,090 million euros, but the government and Parliament advised voting against the idea of linking the reforms to life expectancy, considering it an exaggerated idea and a rigid mathematical formula.
In 2022, the Swiss have already agreed, in another referendum, to equalize the retirement age for women and men to 65, starting in 2028 (until then it was 64 for them), which already means some relaxation of the pension. finance.
Switzerland introduced the AVS pension system into its constitution nearly a century ago, in 1925, although the first pensions for retirees in the central European country only arrived in 1948.
In addition to these two national consultations, several local referendums were held today in which Geneva agreed, among other things, to upgrade the French Provençal song “Cé qu'è lainô” to a Cantonese anthem, and the Alpine canton of Valais chose not to allow this. New local constitution, preserving the 1907 constitution.
“Hardcore alcohol maven. Hipster-friendly analyst. Introvert. Devoted social media advocate.”