The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Should Swiss citizens who live abroad receive a 13th pension payment? Not according to one Swiss parliamentarian. In our most read story of the week, we looked at the arguments for and against an emotional issue.
Also this week, government measures to cope with heatwaves and drought – too little, too late?
The Swiss government is stepping up efforts to tackle the heat and drought affecting Switzerland, but left-wing parties say the response is “completely inadequate”.
More than CHF70 million ($87 million) has been made available to help forests adapt to climate change and support farming businesses, Environment Minister Albert Rösti told the media on Wednesday. The government is proposing that the CHF17.5 million in forestry subsidies that were cut be reinstated next year, in addition to a one-off CHF54 million increase in interest-free loans this year for farmers affected by the drought.
“The government has taken the situation very seriously from the outset,” said Rösti, responding to critics who throughout the summer and multiple heatwaves have accused him and the government of inaction. For its part, the interior ministry is now looking into how public health can be safeguarded despite rising temperatures.
However, Rösti also made it clear that it wasn’t the government’s role to install air-conditioning in hospitals and schools or to turn sealed village squares into green spaces. “That’s a matter for the towns and local authorities,” he said.
The Tages-Anzeiger wrote that while the government’s measures were likely to be well received by the centre-right, the left-green camp remained disappointed. The Social Democratic Party accused the government of “pursuing clientelism in favour of the agricultural sector”, saying the measures presented on Wednesday were “completely inadequate”. The Greens regretted a lack of measures for the sick, the elderly and children, whose health, they said, was suffering as a result of the heat. From the Greens’ perspective, there was also a need for significantly more action to tackle the root causes of global warming.
Swiss retirees, including those living abroad, will receive a bonus 13th pension payment for the first time in December.
However, Didier Calame from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party disagrees with this and has put forward a parliamentary motion proposing that only those who are resident in Switzerland should receive the pension supplement.
“Pensioners living abroad are entitled to pension benefits, but not to a 13th payment,” Calame told Swissinfo. “They often deliberately move to countries where the cost of living is lower for economic reasons. So they are saving money.”
The proposal, first reported by news portal cash.ch, has caused outrage within the Swiss expat community. Josef Schnyder, who represents Swiss in Thailand, said: “The People’s Party is making it crystal clear where it stands on Swiss citizens living abroad: pay into the pension system – yes. Equal rights in old age – no.”
For its part, the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) simply said it “opposes cuts to benefits for Swiss citizens living abroad”.
While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is booming in Switzerland, schoolchildren are increasingly turning away from TikTok and Instagram, according to two studies published this week.
Four out of five Swiss now use AI both at work and in their private lives – double the figure two years ago. Its use is particularly widespread among 15- to 34-year-olds, said the Digimonitor report on Tuesday. AI is no longer used solely for texts and translations: search, shopping advice and e-learning are also among its areas of application.
Also on Tuesday the Tages-Anzeiger reported that digitalisation in Swiss schools was stagnating. Social media use has halved since 2020, particularly among eight- to 12-year-olds.
One of the lead researchers of the study, by the Swiss Coordination Centre for Educational Research, believed this reflected a broader trend: Swiss parents have become more aware of the issues and are beginning to restrict their children’s access to social media.
The survey also revealed that girls and young women take a significantly more critical view of learning with digital tools than boys and young men, with possible consequences for career choices.
“Are you a US citizen?” ask leaflets in trams in Basel and Geneva, as well as posters in Zurich. They are calling on American citizens living in Switzerland to register to vote in their home state for the mid-term elections in November.
However, the QR codes on them link to non-partisan election information websites – it’s not the US government that’s behind the campaign, but Democrats Abroad, the Swiss branch of the Democratic Party.
According to federal figures, almost 32,000 US citizens eligible to vote were living in Switzerland at the time of the last presidential election in 2024. Around half hold dual citizenship. Democrats Abroad has several thousand members in Switzerland, Liz Voss, president of the Basel branch of Democrats Abroad told Swiss public broadcaster SRF on Wednesday.
SRF said the campaign in public spaces also carried particular weight because new data protection regulations make paid political advertising on social media platforms impossible.
An enquiry from SRF to the Democrats Abroad’s Republican counterpart, Republicans Overseas, regarding their activities in Switzerland remained unanswered.
Edited by Simon Bradley
The week ahead
On Monday the Federal Statistical Office publishes the latest analysis of the gender pay gap.
The winners of the Prix Montagne will be given their prizes in Bern on Thursday. The annual Prix Montagne awards CHF40,000 ($50,000) to successful value-adding projects in Swiss mountain regions, alongside a CHF20,000 public prize.
A national symposium organised by Gerontology Switzerland will be held on Thursday on the topic “Getting old in the age of climate change: a societal challenge”.
How about growing potatoes in the age of climate change? On Thursday the industry organisation Swisspatat will reveal this year’s spud harvest.
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