In 2021, 265 100 persons in Switzerland received social assistance in the form of a financial benefit on at least one occasion. The social assistance rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 3.1%. This decline was associated with a lower number of new recipients. As in the previous year, therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic had a minor impact on social assistance.
The social assistance rate has not changed much in recent years. The same applies to the main groups at risk. Persons without post-compulsory education, children, foreign nationals, single-parent families and persons living alone have a higher risk of having to resort to social assistance.
