Unemployment Drives Social Benefits Up in 2020
Published: Monday, Sep 25th 2023, 10:39
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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The Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS) released its four-yearly Social Report, which showed that the poverty rate in 2020 was 8.7%, an increase of 0.5% since the last report in 2019. This was due to the costs of short-time work and unemployment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Social benefits in 2020 rose significantly, particularly for unemployment, to 14.3 billion francs. Without these transfer payments, almost a third of the Swiss population would be income-poor. This figure is almost halved by old-age and survivor benefits. Despite employment, 4.2% of the working population still lived below the poverty line at the end of 2021, 0.1% less than in the 2019 report. The BFS report highlighted the challenges of an ageing population, increasing foreign population and changes in the labour market, which affect certain population groups.
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