Swiss are happy but poverty risk remains

A survey on income and living conditions – the first of its kind – has found that three out of four people in the country are very satisfied with their lives.

However, one in seven are at risk of poverty and 6.7 per cent of the population is faced with serious material deprivation, it found.

The Federal Statistics Office has conducted a comprehensive study of living conditions, taking into consideration the notions of well-being and income distribution in Switzerland. The results were published on Monday.

The statistics office said in a statement that the risk of poverty depended on the definition used: according to the one used by the European Union, the at-risk-of-poverty rate is 14.6 per cent in Switzerland, compared with eight per cent according to that of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Those most at risk include single-parent families, large families, foreigners, people with lower levels of education, the unemployed and children.