A study has found that retirees in Switzerland face huge variations in their pension depending on their gender. Women were found to receive significantly lower benefits than their male counterparts. 

Switzerland’s FSO reveals wide gender gap in pensions

Data from Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) showed clear differences between the amount men and women get from their pension, especially in terms of lump-sum payments. According to the statistics, the median new old-age pension from occupational pension schemes in 2020 totalled 2.081 Swiss francs per month for men, and only 1.167 Swiss francs for women.

For lump-sum payments, the disparity between men and women is even more clear: when lump-sum benefits from vested benefits institutions are not taken into account, the median amount of the lump-sum benefits paid out by the pension funds was 199.092 Swiss francs for men and 78.977 Swiss francs for women.

Strong differences in Swiss pensions due to employment

One of the key reasons for the difference in pension is down to the different careers that men and women in Switzerland have historically opted for. While things have started to change in recent years, the current generation of female retirees have been paid lower salaries than their male counterparts. Women are also known to face greater difficulty when it comes to advancing their career due to work interruptions through childbirth, maternity leave and family.

“Domestic and family work, which is more often done by women, is unpaid and does not count towards old-age pension benefits,” the FSO said. By contrast, men have higher wages and are thus able to contribute more towards their pension, so that they have more money in the bank for their retirement.