The brochure Fact & Figures 2019 from the Gender Equality Division of the Presidential Department of Basel-Stadt recently arrived in my mail. I started leafing through it and ultimately had to conclude that the differences between women and men have indeed improved, but are still high.

With regard to senior citizens, I would like to quote from the brochure:

“In 2018, 7,919 pensioners in Basel-Stadt received supplementary benefits to the AHV, of which 62.9% were women.”

Poverty and a lack of social security still seem to be a women's issue. If you leaf through the brochure and notice that, for example, professional status (Northwest Switzerland 2018) in a managerial position only accounts for 5% of women, but is a reality for 7.8% of men, or that only 17.5% of women are in managerial positions compared to 24.6% of men, it becomes clear where the first step of the difference lies.

When I read that it is mainly women who do care work and tend to take up poorly paid jobs, or on average earn 18.3% less than men for the same job profile, it really bothers me a little. No wonder then it says:

“The average pension fund old-age pension for new entrants for men in 2017 was around 2,894 francs per month, and for women it was 1,619 francs.”

Part-time jobs, divorces, family planning - all of these are significant factors. It's no wonder that more and more people are trying very hard to get a job, or to be able to stay in their job, even after retirement age. The economy should actually be grateful if senior citizens get actively involved. It would be a classic win-win situation. Interested people contribute their life and professional experience and can thus secure their livelihood in old age.

I would actually like to encourage businesses to take a look at the senior citizens at seniors@work! The know-how presented here is incredible... It's simply too good not to be used!