Wage gap among young people in Switzerland: income gap narrows

Context

TL;DR

• Among those born in 1995, the income gap is 14%
• Among those born in 1965, the gap was 55%
• In 2025, 54% of young women held a tertiary qualification
• Among parents, the gap remains at 51%

Key facts

• Study → University of Lausanne and Swiss Foundation for Social Science Research fors
• Researchers → Daniel Oesch and Oliver Lipps
• Sample → over 215,000 people between the ages of 25 and 34
• Data period → 1991-2024
• Tertiary education in 2025 → 54% of young women and 48% of young men

In the 25-34 age group, women born in 1995 had an overall working income 14% lower than men. The data emerges from a study conducted by the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Foundation for Social Science Research Fors, published in the journal "Social Change in Switzerland".

Daniel Oesch and Oliver Lipps analysed data on over 215,000 people aged 25-34 from Swiss workforce surveys conducted from 1991 to 2024. In the statement related to the study, the two researchers define evolution as a "race to recovery".

Comparison between generations

Among people aged 25-34 born in 1965, women's overall work income was 55% lower than that of men. In the 1995 cohort, the difference had narrowed to 14%. The comparison then signals a sharp downsizing, but the gap remains.

Other indicators also show the rapprochement between the sexes. The difference in the weekly schedule has been reduced from 17 hours to less than four hours. The difference in standardized hourly pay has grown from nearly 20% to less than 5%. Participation in the labor market has also approached between the two sexes, according to the results of the study.

Among the decisive elements, the study identifies the change in trend at the educational level. In 2025, in Switzerland, 54% of young women had obtained a tertiary degree, compared to 48% of young men. The category includes universities, vocational university schools and higher vocational education. The research also indicates an advancement of women towards professions with higher salary potential.

Motherhood continues to make an important difference: after the formation of a family, the income distance increases significantly. For women without children, the gap narrowed from 27% to 7%; among parents it also fell, but remained much wider, at 51%. The distinction between total income and hourly pay is also useful to read your data in calcolatore stipendio.

Operational details

The practical significance of the study emerges when one avoids treating 14% as the only useful figure. Overall labor income, weekly hours and standardized hourly pay describe different dimensions of the gap. Bringing them together allows for a more precise reading of the improvement recorded between generations.

Three measures not to confuse

Overall income is the measure with which the study describes the shift from 55% to 14%. Weekly hours instead measure the difference in time worked: from 17 hours to less than four. Standardized hourly pay follows another scale, from nearly 20% to less than 5%. The three results are not interchangeable.

For those monitoring their own busta paga svizzera, the practical consequence is to separate hourly pay from overall labor income and not use a single figure to describe the entire position.

The educational advantage adds another element. In 2025, 54% of young women had a tertiary qualification, compared with 48% of young men, and women were moving toward professions with higher salary potential. The study presents this reversal as one of the key factors behind the catch-up, not as the automatic elimination of the gap.

The difference between 7% for women without children and 51% among parents then makes it necessary to distinguish family trajectories. The 7% cannot be read as a result that applies to all women, because the source reports a markedly wider gap after family formation.

The international comparison completes the picture: for those born in 1965, Switzerland had the second-largest gap compared with France, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States; for those born in 1995, it had the smallest. Progress can therefore also be measured against other countries, even though a gap remains.

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Key points

To apply the study to a personal salary comparison, it is useful to follow a sequence of four checks. The aim is not to turn a collective statistic into a definitive assessment, but to use the same indicators to examine one’s own case more precisely.

Four checks for interpreting your own data

• First: distinguish total employment income from standardized hourly pay. These are the two income measures used in the study and should not be merged into a single item.
• Second: note the difference in weekly hours. The study’s comparison goes from 17 hours to less than four hours; this parameter should be kept separate from the total amount.
• Third: consider the family situation. The reference changes between women without children, for whom the difference fell from 27% to 7%, and parents, among whom it remains at 51%.
• Fourth: consider education and occupation together. In 2025, tertiary education applied to 54% of young women and 48% of young men; the study links this reversal to occupations with higher salary potential.

For anyone evaluating a job, a comparison with annunci di lavoro should be made while maintaining the same unit of measurement: total income, weekly hours or standardized hourly pay. Mixing these levels makes it difficult to understand which difference is being observed.

The scope of the data should be preserved. The analysis concerns people between 25 and 34 years old and uses Swiss labor force surveys conducted from 1991 to 2024. The percentages therefore describe a trend across generations, not a figure to be applied indiscriminately to every worker.

The family comparison also requires attention: the source separates women without children and parents, while the advantage in education and women’s advancement toward occupations with higher salary potential are described as factors in the overall evolution. Keeping these elements separate avoids attributing the entire gap to a single cause.

This process makes it possible to check one’s comparison without losing sight of the meaning of the data: first define the measure, then consider the hours, then the family context and finally the relationship with education and occupation. To turn this reading into a personal salary check, use calcolatore stipendio.

Source: tvsvizzera.it