The social assistance rate fell further in 2023 to reach a value not reached since 2005. It stood at 2.8%, with 249,700 people having obtained social assistance at least once last year.
With this drop of 0.1 percentage point compared to 2022, ‘the social assistance rate has reached its lowest value since the introduction of the statistics of social assistance recipients in 2005’, writes the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Monday in a press release.
The labor market, favorable in 2023, with a drop in the unemployment rate, explains this development, according to the office. The groups of people where the rates remain the highest are the same as in 2022, namely children, people of foreign nationality and those divorced.
From a regional point of view, the social assistance rate has fallen in 18 cantons – including Neuchâtel which recorded a marked drop (-0.4 percentage points) – compared to 2022. Despite this, the canton displays the second highest rate of the highest social assistance in Switzerland. On the other hand, social assistance is increasing in Geneva and in the canton of Vaud.
/ATS
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