Résumé
Au cours des 25 dernières années, la Suisse a élaboré plusieurs projets de réforme du système des retraites, tous rejetés lors de votations populaires. Finalement, le 25 septembre 2022, le projet AVS21 a été accepté par une très courte majorité du peuple. Cette réforme augmente d’une année l’âge de référence de la retraite des femmes pour l’aligner sur celui des hommes (65 ans). Le présent article vise à montrer la façon dont cette réforme, comme les propositions antérieures, constitue un puissant révélateur des tensions qui se manifestent autour du régime de genre dans le contexte helvétique contemporain. L’argumentation en faveur de cette réforme a été formulée selon une « rhétorique de l’égalité » par les autorités politiques, présentant la réforme AVS21 comme un outil de promotion de l’uniformisation des parcours de vie des femmes et des hommes et comme une conséquence inévitable de l’évolution de la société suisse vers plus d’égalité. Cependant, notre analyse des débats préalables et postérieurs à l’adoption de cette réforme révèle le caractère conservateur du régime de genre suisse, contribuant à la persistance de fortes inégalités sur le marché du travail et dans la sphère familiale. Le décalage entre la réalité de la division sexuelle du travail et la rhétorique égalitariste des autorités fédérales a indéniablement alimenté les oppositions exprimées à l’égard de ces réformes de la part des mouvements féministes et des syndicats.
Over the past twenty-five years, the Swiss authorities have proposed several pension reforms, which have been systematically rejected by the population through referendums. On September 25, 2022, the AVS21 reform was approved by a very small majority. This vote increased women’s full pension age by one year, aligning it with the pension age for men (65 years). This article suggests that, like previous attempts to revise the pension system, this reform offers a key to understanding the tensions that surround the contemporary Swiss gender regime. Arguments in favor of aligning women’s pensionable age with that of their male counterparts were couched in a “gender equality” rhetoric. The AVS21 reform was presented as a tool for promoting gender-neutral life course patterns and as an inevitable consequence of the increasing gender equality in Swiss society. However, analysis of the debates that preceded the referendum shows that the conservative character of the Swiss gender regime persists, implying enduring inequalities between men and women in the labor market and in the domestic sphere. The evident mismatch between the concrete division of labor and the gender equality rhetoric that presided over these reforms undeniably fueled feminist and trade union opposition.
Over the past twenty-five years, the Swiss authorities have proposed several pension reforms, which have been systematically rejected by the population through referendums. On September 25, 2022, the AVS21 reform was approved by a very small majority. This vote increased women’s full pension age by one year, aligning it with the pension age for men (65 years). This article suggests that, like previous attempts to revise the pension system, this reform offers a key to understanding the tensions that surround the contemporary Swiss gender regime. Arguments in favor of aligning women’s pensionable age with that of their male counterparts were couched in a “gender equality” rhetoric. The AVS21 reform was presented as a tool for promoting gender-neutral life course patterns and as an inevitable consequence of the increasing gender equality in Swiss society. However, analysis of the debates that preceded the referendum shows that the conservative character of the Swiss gender regime persists, implying enduring inequalities between men and women in the labor market and in the domestic sphere. The evident mismatch between the concrete division of labor and the gender equality rhetoric that presided over these reforms undeniably fueled feminist and trade union opposition.