On 25 September 2022, Swiss voters narrowly approved the "OASI 21" reform, designed to stabilise the financing of old-age and survivors' insurance. Backed by a centre-right coalition and the Federal Council, it aligned women's reference age with men's, at 65.
The ballot in fact covered two linked measures: an amendment to the OASI Act (raising women's age, flexible retirement between 63 and 70, compensation for women near retirement) and additional financing through a VAT increase. Both had to pass together for the reform to take effect.
The backdrop was an OASI whose official projections forecast growing deficits from mid-decade onward, driven by the retirement of the baby-boom generation. The previous major reform, Pension Provision 2020, had failed at the ballot box in 2017; the right was seeking a win after years of deadlock.
The left, the trade unions and feminist organisations fought the proposal, denouncing a reform "on the backs of women", whose pensions are already lower than men's. The result — 50.57% Yes to the OASI Act amendment — was one of the tightest of the decade and revealed a sharp divide between French- and German-speaking Switzerland.
▲ Cantons that accepted Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Appenzell Inner Rhodes, St. Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau | ▼ Cantons that rejected Geneva, Vaud, Valais, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Jura, Ticino, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Solothurn |
Actors and personalities
▲ Yes camp • Federal Council (Alain Berset, head of the social insurance department) • FDP, SVP, The Centre (the "2x YES to OASI 21" alliance) • Green Liberals and EPP • economiesuisse, sgv-usam (business umbrella groups) | ▼ No camp • Social Democratic Party, Greens • Swiss Trade Union Federation (Pierre-Yves Maillard) and Travail.Suisse • Socialist Women and feminist-strike collectives • Trade unions (Unia, VPOD) |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) A single reference age for women and men « The reference age will be the same for women and men: 65. » — Federal Council, voting booklet, 2022 ✓ Argument confirmed Since 1 January 2024 the reform has been in force. Women's reference age is being raised in three-month steps from 2025 (1961 cohort) to reach 65 in 2028 (1964 cohort). The promised formal alignment is being carried out on the planned schedule. Source : FSIO, 2024 A reform that stabilises the OASI « OASI 21 secures the financing of the OASI for about a decade. » — Federal Council, 2022 ✗~ Partly refuted The new revenue (VAT at 8.1% and a higher age) is in effect. But in August 2024 the FSIO admitted a modelling error that had overestimated future OASI expenditure by around 4 billion francs by 2033. Above all, the acceptance of the 13th OASI pension in March 2024 added several billion in annual costs, largely erasing the claimed stabilising effect. Source : FSIO, August 2024; FSO Guaranteed compensation for women near retirement « Compensation is provided for women in the transitional generation. » — Federal Council, 2022 ✓ Argument confirmed The compensation measures for the 1961-1969 cohorts (a lifelong pension supplement for those who do not draw early, favourable reduction rates, early drawing possible from 62) are in force and apply from 2025. On this specific point the campaign promise has been kept. Source : FSIO / ahv-iv.ch, 2025 | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) A reform paid for by women « It is a slap in the face for all women. » — Socialist Women Switzerland, 2022 ✓~ Partly confirmed Factually, the age increase affects only women, who now work up to a year longer. Compensation softens the effect for the transitional generation without cancelling it, and the pension gap between women and men remains substantial (women's old-age pensions markedly lower, the overall gap around one third according to the FSO). The principle holds; the "setback for equality" is tempered by the compensation. Source : FSO, pension statistics The financial urgency is overstated « The forecast deficit serves to justify a social rollback. » — Referendum committee, 2022 ✓~ Partly confirmed The argument was partly vindicated after the fact: the FSIO calculation error revealed in August 2024 showed that the OASI's financial outlook was too pessimistic by around 4 billion. The figures brandished during the campaign were therefore overstated. The OASI's demographic challenge remains real, but the scale of the deficit invoked to justify the reform was exaggerated. Source : FSIO, August 2024; RTS The VAT increase weighs on purchasing power « Raising VAT means making low incomes pay above all. » — Left-wing opponents, 2022 ✓~ Partly confirmed VAT was indeed raised from 7.7% to 8.1% on 1 January 2024. The increase is real but modest (0.4 points) and diluted in prices; its effect on purchasing power is measurable but limited and did not amount to the feared shock. The argument holds in fact, at a contained scale. Source : FTA / Federal Council |
Factual record
2 Confirmed | 3 Partly confirmed | 1 Partly refuted | 0 Refuted |
| ✓ | The alignment of ages has been achieved Since 2024 the reform applies; the reference age will be uniformly set at 65 by 2028. The Yes camp's central institutional promise has been kept. Source : FSIO, 2024 |
| ~ | A "stabilisation" quickly overtaken The FSIO calculation error (≈ 4 billion) and then the acceptance of the 13th OASI pension in March 2024 erased much of the stabilising effect. Eighteen months after the vote, the OASI already faced fresh financing challenges. Source : FSIO, August 2024 |
| ~ | Women, the reform's net contributors The cost of raising the age falls on women; compensation eases the transition without closing the pension gap that persists between the sexes. Source : FSO |
The OASI 21 reform illustrates the chronic difficulty of reforming old-age provision in Switzerland: it took one of the tightest ballots of the decade, and a deep linguistic divide, to push through an alignment of ages that most neighbouring countries had adopted long ago.
On the factual level, the Yes camp's concrete commitments were honoured: the reference age is being aligned on schedule, and compensation for the transitional generation is in effect. These are verifiable outcomes, independent of any value judgement.
By contrast, the central argument of financial urgency has aged poorly. The August 2024 revelation of an FSIO modelling error overestimating OASI spending by some 4 billion, followed by the swift acceptance of the 13th pension, put the promised "stabilisation" into perspective. Opponents who decried alarmist figures received, on this point, a belated vindication.
What remains is the heart of the debate — equity between the sexes — which the facts do not settle: women now work longer for pensions that remain lower, but benefit from real compensation. The vote shifted the dial without closing the controversy.