The Federal Council is strengthening its fight against precariousness. The Confederation announced, at the end of last week, that it wanted to perpetuate, until at least 2030, the national platform against poverty, a tool which makes it possible to coordinate the different actors in order to develop a strategy to best help people in need. . In the canton of Neuchâtel, nearly 15% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2021, according to last year’s cantonal social report (compared to 14.2% in 2017). This announcement comes after a relaxation by the Confederation in the fight against this scourge which affects nearly 1.3 million people in the country. “There was a support plan which covered the period 2010-2020 and, until now, there has been a relaxation,” specifies the director of Caritas Neuchâtel. Hubert Péquignot is delighted with this news: “It’s really a good sign that the Federal Council is sending us. This will make it possible to coordinate the different actors and plan a strategy. »
Difficult for single-parent families
Today, in Switzerland, poverty mainly affects certain categories of society. According to Hubert Péquignot, single-parent and large families (two adults with at least three children) have a higher tendency to find themselves in financial difficulty. The director of Caritas Neuchâtel explains that “poverty does not only depend on individual causes. It is mainly caused by a context and by the social policy of the country where we find ourselves.”
Canada
