The government has presented plans for a reform of the compulsory occupational pension scheme – one of the three pillars of the Swiss social security system.
It foresees a reduction of the so-called conversion rate from 6.8% to 6% – which will result in 12% drop in individual pensions – as well as a solidarity-financed pension supplement for future pensioners and improvements for lower-income earners and part-time employees.
Interior Minister Alain Berset said the reform was aimed at shoring up the ailing occupational pension system and would cost about CHF3 billion ($3 billion).
“It is a compromise and the result of long negotiations. The government therefore hopes the proposal will stand a good chance of winning broad support,” Berset told a news conference on Friday.
Berset added that the government would review the proposal following a three-month consultation period among political parties, organisations and institutions and, in a best-case scenario, parliament could begin discussions on a legal amendment in 2021.
However, he acknowledged that the reform plan will meet mixed reaction and be challenged by various stakeholders, notably the influential association of small and medium-sized entreprises.
An overhaul of the state old age pension scheme – the so called first pillar – is already underway in parliament following voters’ rejection of a previous reform in a nationwide vote more than two years ago.
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