Let’s Talk: Are the Swiss really satisfied?

A survey commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) shows that the Swiss are generally satisfied. A political scientist, an expat organisation and a Swiss citizen who lives abroad tell us why. 

Over 57,000 people took part in the extensive SBC survey between April and May of this year. A total of 61% of the respondents said they are doing “well to very well” (grades 8 to 10 on a scale of 1 to 10). Only five percent described themselves as “not satisfied” (grades 0 to 4). This general sense of satisfaction is mainly fuelled by things going well in their private life.

“I think there is no secret sauce,” says Lukas Golder, a political scientist at the gfs.bern research insitute that conducted the survey on behalf of SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company. 

According to Golder, the Swiss are satisfied because they can rely on their institutions, have security and wealth, and the healthcare and social welfare systems work well. 

“What you get from your country is how you judge it,” Golder adds. 

What about the Swiss Abroad?

The Swiss Abroad also seem equally satisfied as their compatriots who live in the motherland. Half of them consider Switzerland the best country to live in.

“If you have a Swiss passport you know you can rely to a certain extent on the amazing Swiss system,” says Michelle Hufschmid from Soliswiss, a cooperative that helps the Swiss Abroad.

However, she is cautions that the Swiss Abroad community is quite heterogenous and includes diverse groups such as students, professionals, pensioners and humanitarian aid workers. According to Hufschmid, the level of satisfaction depends where they live and what their motivation to leave Switzerland was. 

The results of the survey shows that the Swiss Abroad are less anxious, more rested, calmer and less depressed. This image of the more relaxed Swiss Abroad is reinforced by the fact that, compared to the Swiss living in Switzerland, they are less likely to say that they are preoccupied in everyday life by their job, appearance or by an urge to constantly improve themselves, for example.

That doesn’t not mean they don’t have problems that keep them awake at night. Healthcare is a major issue depending on how the health system is set up in their adopted country. The war in Ukraine is another cause for worry and not just from a security point of view. 

“It had knock on effect on interest rates and inflation. The pension pot gets smaller,” says Kay Ruchti-Corwley, a retired software engineer who lives between Ireland and Switzerland.