Switzerland to develop national poverty strategy

Poverty: Switzerland has not yet achieved its targets Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has not yet achieved its poverty reduction target. In 2023, 8.1% of the population was living on an income below the subsistence minimum, according to the first national poverty monitoring survey.

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Switzerland is a prosperous country with a well-developed social security system. However, poverty is also present. Between 2014 and 2017, the income poverty rate rose in Switzerland. Since then, it has fluctuated between 8 and 9%, as the federal government points out in a press release.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the poverty rate remained stable thanks to the support measures put in place to overcome the economic crisis. However, the government notes in its report that Switzerland has not achieved its long-term objective of reducing poverty.

National strategy in sight

This report is the first solidly backed and exhaustive reference publication on poverty in Switzerland. It also gives the floor to a number of people affected by poverty, whose portraits are highlighted in the statistical analyses. It will serve as a basis for developing a national strategy to combat poverty by 2027.

Poverty in terms of income relatively often affects people who are not in work, single-parent families, couple households with several children, people living alone, people with low qualifications and foreigners.

Impact of structural conditions

However, the report shows that individual characteristics are not the only explanatory factors. Structural conditions have a decisive impact on individuals’ opportunities for action and development. These include the organisation of the education system, out-of-home childcare and the system for covering basic needs, as well as labour market conditions.

Poverty is not just a question of money. Difficulties in other areas of life can exacerbate precarious financial situations.

For example, almost half of people who are poor in terms of income suffer from chronic illnesses, and people with no post-compulsory education are affected by poverty more frequently than the average.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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