This indicator provides information on the degree to which poverty is tackled in Switzerland. Receiving social assistance benefits reflects a lack of financial independence on the one hand and effective recourse to the social assistance system on the other.
From an integration perspective, a decrease in the rate of social welfare recipients indicates an improved situation.
Irrespective of the place of birth, the social assistance rate of foreign nationals is higher than that of Swiss nationals. Among Swiss nationals, those born abroad have a higher social assistance rate than those born in Switzerland. On the other hand, foreign nationals born in Switzerland have a higher social assistance rate than foreign nationals born abroad.
Since 2012, the social assistance rate has decreased in all population groups studied.
The smallest differences between foreign and Swiss nationals are observed in the cantons of Thurgau and Ticino. Meanwhile, the largest differences are found in the cantons of Bern and Jura. Among those born in Switzerland, the cantons of Schwyz and Thurgau show the smallest differences between Swiss and foreign nationals. The cantons of Bern and Uri have the greatest differences. For people born abroad, the differences between foreign and Swiss nationals are generally smaller than for those born in Switzerland. Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Jura show the largest differences, while Basel-Stadt and Geneva have the smallest ones.
Social assistance: in the Swiss social security system, social assistance is seen as a last resort. It is granted according to need in situations not covered by social insurance benefits and includes all assistance benefits and basic care aimed at providing people in need with the basic means of subsistence. Social assistance in the narrow sense covers individual help and financial assistance. It ensures that people’s basic needs are met, fostering their individual and financial independence as well as their social and professional integration. It helps people to overcome temporary crises. In general, it is not intended to cover risks of a structural nature. Social assistance comes under the responsibility of the cantons. The Swiss federal government is only responsible for social assistance in the context of asylum, refugees and assistance to Swiss citizens abroad. Each canton has its own social assistance legislation that governs all cantonal and communal social assistance.
The financial social assistance rate (rate of social assistance recipients in the narrow sense): represents the proportion of recipients who received a social assistance payment at least once during the survey year in relation to the whole of the permanent resident population according to STATPOP of the previous year (Population and Households Statistics). The social assistance statistics also include data on temporarily admitted people. These are people who are temporarily admitted and have been living in Switzerland for more than seven years, as well as refugees who have been temporarily admitted and have been living in Switzerland for more than seven years.
