No more lifetime benefits: citizens want to limit widow’s pension

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With the 13th AHV pension, the pension provision will be expanded to billions. But the Federal Council is also considering savings plans in the AHV: it wants to massively limit survivor’s pensions and thus save approximately one billion francs per year in the AHV by 2040.

In the future, widows will no longer receive a lifelong survivor’s pension. They only receive a pension until the 25th birthday of the youngest child. Only longer if an adult child with a disability is being cared for. Widowed women and men are treated equally: the money would now be paid based on the time spent caring for and raising children – regardless of the gender and marital status of those affected.

The current pensions for widows aged 55 and older therefore remain in force. Younger widows without dependent children should have their current pensions withdrawn after a two-year transition phase, according to the review, which is currently being consulted on Friday. The initiative was taken by former SP federal councilor Alain Berset (51).

FDP against pensions for unmarried people

The reduction in widows’ pensions is welcomed with open doors by the common people. The FDP considers the proposal balanced. “It eliminates unequal treatment between men and women, provides targeted bridging benefits and takes hardship into account,” the party writes.

However, she objects to the fact that unmarried people should now also receive a widow’s pension. Everyone is free to decide whether he wants to get married or not. Anyone who fails to do this also renounces the “special protection of marriage”. And upon remarriage, the right to a widow’s pension should lapse completely, according to the FDP.

The SVP considers the abolition of the lifelong widow’s pension as “a long-awaited step”. In light of demographic development with an ever-increasing shortage of skilled labor and a continuously increasing participation of women in the labor market, “such lifelong maintenance payment is no longer appropriate due to gender-specific attributions”.

Mitte wants to adjust the transition pension

The center also fundamentally supports the template, but requires adjustments. What is central to the party is “that fair transitional provisions are established, that age-related circumstances are taken into account and that property guarantees are provided to elderly widows.”

She proposes that the two-year transitional pension should also be granted to childless survivors. The Social Directors Conference also points out this point: survivors without children also find themselves in a difficult situation in which they need to receive financial protection for a certain period of time.

Left storms

The left, on the other hand, is storming against the austerity exercise, for which the new SP Minister of Social Affairs Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (60) is now responsible. The equality goal is also supported by the left-green camp.

But the SP is angry that the reform is being converted into a financial reduction program. Savings are made “at the expense of those people who are already in a precarious situation in one way or another due to fate” – and especially “at the expense of women” whose benefits would be reduced.

Their conclusion: “An austerity law is not progress in equality policy.” The party therefore advocates various adjustments, such as a vesting guarantee for current pensions or an extension for transitional pensions.

Pro Familia, on the other hand

There is also resistance from the organization Pro Familia. She points out that it is still mothers who do the majority of childcare and therefore reduce their jobs more often than fathers.

The Federal Council ignores the real lives of women in this country. For Pro Familia it is clear: “This reform is being implemented on the backs of women and does not correspond to the economic reality of Switzerland.”

After evaluating the feedback, Baume-Schneider is expected to submit a concrete proposal to parliament this year: the reform should come into effect as early as 2026, if possible.

Source:Blick