The Swiss narrowly vote for a one-year extension of women's work

The Swiss voted this Sunday with 50.6% of the votes in favor of extending the retirement age for women to 65, like men.

A vote marked by a deep divide between the German-speaking part of the Alpine country, favorable to the reform, and the other cantons.

路透社 REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files

Text by: Jérémie Lanche

1 min

The Swiss voted this Sunday at 50.6% in favor of extending the retirement age for women to 65, like men.

A vote marked by a deep divide between the German-speaking part of the Alpine country, favorable to the reform, and the other cantons.

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With our correspondent in Geneva

,

Jérémie Lanche

The polls gave the reform largely winning.

But it was not until the results of the canton of Zurich that the government breathed a sigh of relief.

With just over 50% of the vote, the Swiss agree to raise the retirement age for women by one year.

A measure presented as essential by Bern to stabilize the Swiss old-age insurance system, unchanged since 1995 and under enormous pressure as life expectancy increases and the generation of baby boomers reaches retirement age active.

► Also to listen: Pensions: how does the Swiss model work?

In this context of an aging population, opponents contested a useless reform, which penalizes women who already earn on average a third less than men.

An argument that had a certain echo in French-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland.

Both regions rejected the text.

But the demographic weight of German-speaking Switzerland was enough to make it accepted.

The other split is more obvious since the reform was largely supported by men, much less by women who were more than 50% to reject it. 

For the women of the Socialist Party, the yes “ 

is not only a big step backwards in terms of equality, it is a slap in the face for all women 

”.

They announced a demonstration in Bern on Monday to denounce the result.

(

And with

AFP)

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