National Council wants to step up the fight against poverty in Switzerland
Published: Thursday, Mar 14th 2024, 17:50
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The National Council wants to step up the fight against poverty in Switzerland. On Thursday, it adopted a motion to extend a corresponding national prevention program and then replace it with a national strategy.
As part of an extraordinary session brought about by the SP, the large chamber approved a motion by Estelle Revaz (SP/GE) - by 117 votes to 59 with 7 abstentions. Only the SVP parliamentary group rejected the motion by a majority.
An identical motion was on the agenda of the Council of States on Thursday morning. However, there was no debate there. The small chamber referred the motion by Simon Stocker, SP member of the Council of States from Schaffhausen, to the relevant committee for preliminary deliberation.
If the Council of States later agrees to the request, the Federal Council must extend the national program to prevent and combat poverty, which expires in 2024, and provide sufficient funding for the platform and monitoring until at least 2030. The program should then be replaced by a national strategy.
Reversing the trend
The author of the motion would like the Confederation to support the cantons and municipalities in their efforts to provide access to education and healthcare, to reconcile work and family life, to provide access to affordable housing and to ensure decent working conditions and incomes, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity. Sufficient resources should be made available for the implementation of this strategy.
"Despite the fact that we are a rich country, we are also affected by poverty here," Revaz claimed. The poverty rate has risen steadily over the past ten years. Even 4.2 percent of the working population live below the poverty line. Everything must be done to reverse the trend.
Social Affairs Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider affirmed the need for action on behalf of the Federal Council. Various projects have already been initiated. The Federal Council will soon decide whether and - if so - in what form the platform's activities to prevent and combat poverty will be continued.
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