The Federal Council has decided: No more lifelong pensions for widows

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If your partner dies unexpectedly, it will be a great shock. Emotionally and possibly financially. To at least put financial worries in the background, there are widows’ and widowers’ pensions.

The Federal Council led by Minister of the Interior Alain Berset (51) must now reform this pension. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Switzerland for not treating women and men equally. In certain cases, childless widows received a pension, while childless widows did not. Widows also received lifelong support, while widowers only received support until the youngest child came of age. Currently there is a temporary solution, but now the federal government wants a permanent solution.

No more lifelong pensions

The money is now paid out based on the care and upbringing time – regardless of the gender and marital status of those affected. Widows and widowers may only receive a pension until the 25th birthday of the youngest child. Longer if you care for an adult child with a disability.

The template is intended to “temporarily support survivors in the transition phase after a death or while they have dependent children,” according to the press release. Anyone who is in danger of ending up in poverty due to death can also continue to hope for support. However, lifelong pensions, as previously possible, could soon become a thing of the past. It is no longer “justified to pay lifelong pensions without taking into account the financial situation of the insured.” The Federal Council writes that the system of lifelong pensions for widows no longer corresponds to social reality. More and more women are working and the roles of parents are divided differently.

Current pensions can also be terminated

If your partner dies, the following people will now receive money:

• The surviving parent with children, until the 25th birthday of the youngest offspring. Whether the couple was married or not is irrelevant. If the child is physically or mentally disabled, payment is also possible after the age of 25.
• Surviving relatives without children receive a transitional pension for two years. This applies to married couples and divorced persons who received maintenance contributions from the deceased.
• As part of the additional benefits, widows and widowers over the age of 58 can receive a pension if death is a factor of poverty. The Federal Council justifies this with the difficulties for older people in finding paid work or increasing their workload.
• Accident insurance also provides a pension for widowers if they have children who are not entitled to a pension if their wife dies or if the person is over 45 years old.

The current pensions of widows without dependent children who were over 55 years old before the entry into force of the new law must continue to be paid. However, for young people, current pensions will be stopped within two years of coming into force.

The federal government writes that the entitlement to a widow’s and widower’s pension from the pension fund will not be affected by the reform, as there is no unequal treatment between men and women in this area.

Save 720 million for the AHV

The whole thing is also a federal cost-cutting exercise. The federal government hopes for savings of approximately 720 million francs in the AHV and approximately 160 million francs for the federal government.

In December 2021, approximately 8,900 people under the age of 50 and almost 30,000 50 to 59-year-olds received a widow’s or widower’s pension. Of these, 7,960 and 28,830 were women. According to the embassy’s draft, a total of 175,850 people currently receive a widow’s or widower’s pension totaling 1.7 billion francs.

The Federal Council has now submitted the changes to cantons, associations and other interested parties for consultation. This will last until March 29, 2024. There is already criticism: a women’s alliance is launching a manifesto for better pensions for women. “We oppose a further reduction in widows’ pensions,” says Unia boss Vania Alleva (54), who helped launch the manifesto. Instead, they argue for an improvement through the introduction of a 13th AHV pension.

(brother/SDA)

Source:Blick