Tue, Oct 24th 2023
In 2022, fewer people in Swiss cities received social assistance than in the previous year, according to a survey by the Städteinitiative Sozialpolitik.
On average, the number of supported people decreased by 2.4 percent. The most favorable labor market situation was cited as one of the reasons for this development.
The lowest social assistance rate was in Zug with 1.5 percent, followed by Basel with 5.3 percent, Bern with 4.9 percent and Zurich with 4.1 percent.
Structural factors such as population size, availability of affordable housing, proportion of single parents and refugees, and number of unemployed, laid-off or unskilled people in an area were identified as reasons for the significant differences between the cities.
The number of social assistance recipients increased in four cities: Zug (6.2 percent), Schaffhausen (3.7 percent), St. Gallen (2.6 percent) and Lucerne (2.5 percent). The number of supported refugees increased in all cities.
36 percent of them were working poor, compared to 23 percent of the other social assistance recipients.
The Städteinitiative Sozialpolitik called for language courses, access to vocational training and recognition of qualifications to enable refugees to lead a dignified life. They also criticized the unequal treatment of people receiving asylum social assistance.
©Keystone/SDA
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