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SEXISM

Rising Swiss gender pay gap above EU average

The pay gap between women and men in Switzerland is above the average in Europe and has risen since 2008, a new study shows.

Published: 5 March 2015 21:18 CET
Rising Swiss gender pay gap above EU average
Slogans in three languages for equal pay manifesto. Image:Lohngleichheitsmanifest.ch

Women with Swiss jobs earn 19.3 percent less than their male counterparts, according to a report issued on Thursday by Eurostat, the European statistical agency.

That is greater than the 16.4 percent average gender pay gap for countries in the European Union based on data from 2013.

And the report, issued ahead of International Women’s Day on Sunday, shows the gap in Switzerland has widened from 18.4 percent in 2008.

Former Swiss presidents and government ministers Ruth Dreifus and Micheline Calmy-Rey are among more than 3,760 people who have signed a manifesto calling for pay equity in the country.

See also: GLOBAL PROGRESS ON WOMEN IN POLITICS 'STAGNATING'

Supporters of the manifesto, put online on Sunday, are seeking a stricter application of “equal pay for work of equal value” that was inscribed in the Swiss constitution back in 1981.

They are also seeking a higher representation of women in the boardroom of companies operating in Switzerland.

The mountain country falls well behind Slovenia, which with a 3.2 percent pay gap has the best record in the EU, ahead of Malta (5.1 percent), Poland (6.4 percent), Italy (7.3 percent) and Croatia (7.4 percent).

The difference in pay in Switzerland is roughly on par with that in Spain (19.3 percent) and the UK (19.7 percent) but is smaller than its biggest trading partner Germany (21.6 percent).

The widest pay gap was recorded in Estonia (29.9 percent), followed by Austria (23 percent).

Switzerland scores better for the percentage of employed working-age women, which at 76.6 percent is just below levels in Sweden (77.2 percent) and Norway (77.1 percent), the countries with the highest rates.

However, more than 62 percent of Swiss working women had part-time jobs, Eurostat said.

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EQUALITY

Could Switzerland officially recognise a third gender status?

Legally, there are only two sexes in Switzerland: men and women. But could Nemo’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday change this?

Published: 14 May 2024 15:23 CEST
Could Switzerland officially recognise a third gender status?

Nemo identifies as ‘non-binary,’ that is, neither male nor female — the so-called ‘third sex.’

Therefore, non-binary people use the pronoun ‘they’ to identify themselves, rather than ‘he’ or ‘she.’

Nemo said their winning song, “The Code,” should send a message that Switzerland, where between dozens and possibly hundreds of thousands people are non-binary — should officially recognise those who don’t feel they belong to either the masculine or the feminine gender.

In a study by the Ipsos institute dated June 2023, Switzerland had the most people declaring themselves non-binary, transgender or gender fluid, among 30 countries analysed. Could the fact that neighbours Austria and Germany already recognise the so-called “third sex” encourage Switzerland to make a similar move?

So will it?

In a report it published at the end of 2022, the Federal Council decided that Switzerland is not ready to register a third gender in the civil status register.

Such a change, the government pointed out at the time, would require numerous adaptations of the Constitution, as well as federal and cantonal laws.

The population may not be quite ready for such a change either.

In May 2023, a survey published by Tamedia, Switzerland’s largest media group, showed that 62 percent of respondents, when asked whether they would approve of adding a “third gender” or “miscellaneous” box in official documents, answered “no.”

Could Nemo’s victory shift public opinion, along with the government’s stance?

The hopes of the non-binary community lie with Beat Jans, head of the Federal Department of Justice.

Before he was elected to the Federal Council in December 2023, Jans was the head of Basel’s government.

In that role, he launched a number of measures to expand the canton’s equality law to combat sex discrimination, including against non-binary, trans, intersex people, and the LGBTQIA+ community in general.

Jans already said he wants to meet with Nemo and discuss their views of the issues faced by that community in Switzerland.

Whether such a meeting would actually pave the way to statutory changes, however, remains to be seen.

How do the Swiss feel about non-traditional family models in general?

In September 2021, 64 percent of Swiss voters approved the “marriage for all” legislation, allowing gay and lesbian couples to get legally married.

The law went into effect on July 1st, 2022. 

Several years prior, in 2018, the parliament had extended the scope of Switzerland’s anti-racism laws to include discrimination based on sexual orientation.

As a result, homophobia had become a criminal offence.

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