Swiss pensioners under scrutiny in Thailand over child pensions

We must watch our budget very carefully here in Thailand, says Swiss pensioner Thomas Monsch. SRF

Some Swiss senior citizens receive pensions for their children - even those who live abroad. Some Swiss parliamentarians want to abolish this practice.

Hans Steinmann, a Swiss pensioner, spends a lot of time with his two-year-old son Hans, known as Housi. He had not planned to become a father again at such an old age. But he is very happy with his son, who keeps him young.

Steinmann, his Laotian wife O, Housi and his stepsister Jenny live together in a house in a suburb of Udon Thani, a small town in north-east Thailand.

Swiss pensioner Hans Steinmann. SRF

CHF811 per month per child

Hans Steinmann receives a monthly pension from Switzerland of CHF811 for each of his two children, in addition to his state old-age pension of around CHF2,000. This is almost three times as much per child as the average wage in this poor region of Thailand.

Swiss pensioners who have a child who is a minor or one who is still in education receive up to CHF980 per month from the state pension scheme, regardless of whether it is their biological child, a stepchild or a foster child.

This is a thorn in the side of the Swiss House of Representatives. It wants to abolish child pensions in favour of supplementary benefit. Currently, 25,000 pensioners receive child pensions. One-third of the pensions are sent abroad – a small proportion to countries where they the recipients can live particularly well on the money, for example in Thailand.

Public school for equal opportunities

Hans Steinmann finds it incomprehensible that the House of Representatives wants to end this. “Without this money, I would be extremely stretched here. Then I wouldn’t be able to send the children to a private school. Only there do they learn enough for the future,” he says.

Swiss pensioner Erich Schmucki and his daughter in Thailand. SRF

On the outskirts of Udon Thani, Swiss expats meet in a hotel over sausage-and-cheese salad, TV wrestling and the SRF TV programme Donnschtig-Jass [based on the card game Jass].

Jan Schefer runs the hotel together with his sister. In a year and a half, the Swiss national will be eligible to draw his state pension. He will then be able to apply for a child pension for his son, provided it has not been abolished by then. “I had the opportunity to choose whether I wanted to live in Thailand or Switzerland. My son should do the same later on, thanks to a good school here,” says Schefer.

Criticism of foster children

However, some of those people who are affected also criticise Switzerland’s child pension system. Manfredo Spillmann is the owner of a pizzeria in the centre of Udon Thani.

The Ticino man is bothered by the fact that the child pension is also paid out for foster children. “The money comes from the Swiss population, so it should also be used for the Swiss population. And not for the daughter of the daughter of the daughter,” he says.

Cases of abuse: not recorded

Does the state old-age child pension system invite people to apply for money for their entire extended family? After all, Thailand does not have an extensive welfare system. According to Switzerland’s Federal Social Insurance Office, there is no reason to assume there is greater potential for abuse in Thailand. However, so-called cases of abuse are not even specifically recorded, “partly because it is not possible to clearly define when it could be considered abuse”.

Jürg Riser also receives pensions for his two biological children. His daughter has Down’s syndrome and relies on the help of the whole family. “If they cancel the child pension, I would have to go back to Switzerland. And then the taxpayer would pay for it,” he says.

This year, the Senate will vote on whether to abolish the old-age child pension paid in Switzerland and abroad.