Are Age-Progressive Occupational Pension Contributions Discriminatory? Evidence from a Difference-in-Differences Analysis of a Swiss Occupational Pension Policy Change

It is argued occupational pension contributions that increase with age disadvantage older workers by extending unemployment durations and disadvantage younger workers by reducing relative compensation. Studies applying a causal inference design have so far examined taxes on older workers, rather than pension contributions. In this paper we use a national reform, which reduced occupational pension contributions for women in Switzerland, looking at how a change in pension contributions impacted unemployment duration and reemployment wages. With three three-year age groups experiencing reductions, we estimate heterogeneous effects by age. Results suggest a change in occupational pension contributions in line with recent policy proposals has no impact on unemployment durations or reemployment income.