What Is The Position Of Women In The Swiss economy?

Swiss women are playing a key role in their country’s development journey. According to ESG Hub Switzerland, a knowledge platform for sustainable businesses, gender diversity on Swiss boards has increased by 55% in the last decade.

Tradition dictates that the place of Swiss women is in the home, in charge of housework and child care. Being in a society with strong patriarchal roots, Swiss tradition also placed women under the authority of their fathers and their husbands. The legal and social role of Swiss women has evolved significantly from the mid-20th century onward. Names like Marthe Gosteli, Carla del Ponte, Tilo Frey, and Martina Hingis are names that every Swiss citizen should know.

Wage gap

Even if Switzerland experiences the narrowest gender gap score in its history, a recent PwC’s Women in Work Index 2022 states that the Swiss gender pay gap is 17%, compared to an OECD average of 14%. If not for this gap, Swiss women would be earning CHF 23 billion more per year. Should this trend continue at the same rate as in the OECD, it will take 63 years to close this gap. The difference is largely observed in the higher-earning tiers of the workforce, where women earn 16.8% less than men for doing the same job, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The difference in lower-level segments is around 9.3%.

According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), women spend around 30 hours a week doing unpaid work, while men spend around 20 hours doing so. This includes raising children, caring for family members, preparing meals, cleaning, and gardening. The unequal distribution of unpaid work is the main reason for the gender gap in the labour market.

Education

Switzerland has a highly educated female workforce. According to the FSO, women in Switzerland have made significant progress in the field of higher education, particularly in the last two decades. In 1999, only 9.8% of women aged 25–34 and 14.4% of men aged 25–34 had a higher education diploma. In 2019, the proportion of young women with a higher education diploma rose to 42.3%, compared to around 34.7% for men. In Switzerland, similarly to almost all OECD countries, women make up the majority of those graduating from general upper secondary education. The female share is 57% (OECD average: 55%).

Leadership positions and FinTech

Women have risen to management positions across the economy. According to the PwC report, in terms of leadership, women make up just 26% of the top managers in the economy. Recent studies demonstrate that the Swiss FinTech and banking sectors are still strongly male-driven. The Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ) FinTech Study of 2022 shows that in the Swiss FinTech sector, company foundations are heavily male-dominated. Out “of the 155 companies that participated in the survey of this study, only 14, or 9% in relative terms, were (co-)founded by one or more women. This share is lower than for start-ups across all sectors, which have a share of around 20% of companies (co-) founded by women”.

By the end of 2021, only 10% of management team members and 7% of board members in the Swiss FinTech sector were female. These percentages have increased compared to the previous two years. “However, a comparison with the Swiss retail banks shows that while they also have a 10% share of women on the management teams, the share on the boards of directors is significantly higher at 25%,” according to the IFZ FinTech Study 2022.

Improving gender equality in the workplace would benefit the entire economy. Switzerland would increase its gross domestic product (GDP) by CHF 33 billion, or 6%, if it had a similar employment rate for women as Sweden. For this to happen, the labour market must offer more flexibility to women who want it. Priority should be given to removing the barriers concerning childcare options by increasing public spending on childcare and out-of-school care at the cantonal and municipal levels.