Switzerland is criticized from abroad: Pensioners use child pension as a “business model”

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The Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Thailand are retirees’ paradises. Sun, beach, delicious food and low living costs also attract many Swiss AHV retirees. And then there are child pensions: anyone who marries a local woman, or a local woman with underage children, can truly improve their living standards.

LP (67) lives in Asia and wishes to remain anonymous in this context. The child pension, he told Blick, was “a business model.” He is unaware of any other country that pays this type of pension to non-biological or non-adopted children.

Big increase in Thailand

A look at the figures confirms the accusations: About 20 years ago, 250,000 francs of “child benefits for retirees” were flowing from Switzerland to Thailand. They are currently around 4.5 million. This places the country just behind France or Germany, where many more AHV retirees live. Child pensions are collected six times more frequently in Thailand than in Switzerland. In the Dominican Republic it is ten times more frequent. More than 90 percent of cases are men, which is due to the fact that they can also become fathers in old age.

The child pension is between 490 and 980 francs per month per minor child. In Thailand, the maximum amount is around three times the minimum wage. Swiss passport holders are in great demand among retirees, young and single mothers. If they get married, they can both live a comfortable life thanks to their children.

One in five children’s retirement goes abroad

For P., these money-driven weddings have a bad taste in his mouth. Many other Swiss in Asia also see it this way. “The majority would probably welcome the removal of the in-laws’ business model,” he says.

Child pensions abroad have been a thorn in the side of the SVP for years. SVP National Assembly Member Erich Hess (42) launched a parliamentary initiative in 2020 to ensure that child pensions are paid only to children residing in Switzerland. However, Hess could not gain a majority among MPs.

The responsible commission concluded that although there was abuse, the number was very small and renegotiating social security agreements would be “disproportionate”. To change practice, Switzerland would need to renegotiate social security agreements with other countries. These state that retirees in contracting countries should receive the same benefits as in Switzerland.

Commission no longer wants new child pensions

The responsible National Council commission has now changed its mind. Child pensions have tripled in the last 20 years, reaching approximately 230 million francs per year. Approximately 46 million of these go abroad. Therefore, at the end of January, the Commission adopted a proposal stipulating that there would be no new child pensions in the future. The initiative now goes to the National Council.

Parliament wants to save money. As for child pensions, the argument put forward by opponents of the 13th pension of the AHV seems justified: according to the “watering can principle”, all pensioners benefit from it, regardless of their financial situation. So why should wealthy retirees receive much more money for their children than parents are entitled to through child allowance? According to the text of the proposal, in financially tight situations, dependent parents should be provided with higher additional benefits in the future.

Source :Blick