Welfare rate falls to 2.9 percent in Switzerland
Published: Monday, Dec 18th 2023, 10:00
Updated At: Monday, Dec 18th 2023, 10:01
Back to Live Feed
The social assistance rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 2.9% last year. A total of 256,800 people received at least one economic social assistance benefit in 2022.
The decline was accompanied by a further decrease in the number of new social assistance cases opened and a simultaneous increase in the number of social assistance cases closed. Since the introduction of social assistance statistics in 2005, the social assistance rate has only reached this level in 2008, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) announced on Monday.
Fears that unemployment in particular could have a negative impact on social welfare as a long-term consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic have still not been confirmed. Federal and cantonal measures to contain the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which were in force until the end of 2021, have made a lasting contribution to this development, the report continued. In addition, the continued economic growth and the favorable situation on the labor market had a positive impact on social welfare.
Decline in risk groups
The decline in the social assistance rate can be seen in all risk groups. Minors, foreign nationals and divorcees continue to have the highest social assistance rates. However, the decline tends to be greatest in these risk groups.
In the previous year, 66,700 people with protection status received social assistance, wrote the FSO. Almost three quarters were female and half were between the ages of 26 and 45. This status was activated for people from Ukraine for the first time on March 11, 2022 and entitles them to social welfare benefits.
Increase in the asylum sector
According to the FSO, the number of people receiving social welfare support in the asylum sector also increased by 6.1% to 32,100 in 2022. In the refugee sector, the number of social welfare recipients fell by 2.8% to around 22,500 people. The number of asylum applications submitted (without protection status S) increased overall compared to the previous year.
According to the FSO, the general social assistance rate fell in 14 cantons and increased in two cantons. In the remaining ten cantons, the rate remained unchanged. The decreases in the two most populous cantons, Zurich and Bern, of 0.2% each, and the even more significant decreases in the cantons of Basel-Stadt (-0.4%) and Neuchâtel (-0.3%) were primarily responsible for the falling rates.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic