In 2022, 9.2% of the population received means-tested social benefits for poverty reduction.
Means-tested social benefits for poverty reduction are composed of financial social assistance benefits and other means-tested social benefits. The first is only granted if the other social benefits earlier on in the system prove to be insufficient to cover financial needs.
All cantons grant financial social assistance, maintenance advances and supplementary benefits to OASI/IV. The other benefits are granted differently depending on the canton.
Means-tested social benefits for poverty reduction include means-tested financial social benefits paid by the cantons to relieve poverty. These benefits are surveyed and described in the inventory of means-tested social benefits for poverty reduction. To be included in means-tested social benefits for poverty reduction, benefits have to meet certain criteria and have to be:
- Means-tested
- Direct, i.e. supporting a person
- Based on cantonal legislation
- Financial, in the form of a general support allowance
- Intended to relieve poverty
Guaranteed as long as the recipient remains entitled.
The rate of means-tested social benefits for poverty reduction rose from 8.9% in 2006 to 9.2% in 2022.
Although the number of recipients increased between 2006 and 2022, the economic social assistance rate remained quite stable during this period. This was due to the simultaneous population growth.
In these evaluation, social assistance recipients are counted only once according to their most recent residence status.
Swiss nationals and foreign nationals with a permanent residence permit or an annual residence permit account for around three-quarters of social assistance recipients. The remaining quarter is mainly made up of refugees, provisionally admitted persons or asylum seekers. The total number of people receiving social assistance in Switzerland in 2021 was 307 391 and falls to 298 842 in 2022.
