Switzerland is a wealthy, high-income country. And yet a new survey reveals that more and more residents have problems paying their bills. Why is this?
In a recent survey carried out by WTW consulting firm, 38 percent of respondents in Switzerland stated that they face financial issues that negatively affect their lives. That’s up from 25 percent the previous year.
But that’s not all: Nearly half (49 percent) expect to find themselves in a less favourable financial situation in retirement than their parents’ generation.
Why such a pessimistic outlook?
That’s because despite a mostly stable economy, the cost of living is rising while wages are stagnating.
For instance, health insurance premiums – a huge expense for individuals and households – keep soaring, as do other costs, while wages mostly stagnate.
In fact, a recent UBS study revealed only a 1-percent increase in Swiss wages in 2027 – with sectors like watchmaking and retail even falling below this average.
Poverty on the rise
Official figures indicate that nearly 750,000 people in wealthy Switzerland live in poverty, and some 1.4 million are at risk of becoming poor.
Poverty, is defined in Switzerland at 2,279 francs per month on average for a single person, and 3,976 francs per month for two adults and two children.
This does not, however, include state subsidies paid to these people – that is, financial help for health insurance and rents.
Regional disparities, however, exist.
Ticino’s rate is the highest in Switzerland, with 27.9 percent of the local population at risk of poverty.
Next is the so-called Central Plateau, which stretches from Lake Geneva in the southwest to Lake Constance in the northeast. There, 22.1 percent of residents are impacted.
That rate is 18.8 percent in the Lake Geneva area and 18.9 in the eastern part of the country.
In Zurich area, 14.7 percent are at risk of poverty, and 12.6 percent in central Switzerland
What is being done to help these people?
In response to this growing trend, Tthe government created the National Council for Poverty Issues on November 9th, to prevent more people from becoming poor and helping those who already live under the poverty line.
This group is primarily made up of single-parent households, people with no education or training beyond the compulsory schooling, single people under 65 without children and who live alone, as well as immigrants.
