The Swiss live in socio-economic bubbles

The Swiss want more diversity and social mixing Keystone-SDA

The Swiss have few opportunities to meet people of different ages, wealth or educational backgrounds, according to a study by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute published on Monday. Yet they would like to see more diversity.

The survey, carried out for Migros Culture Percentage, “shows the extent to which circles of acquaintances are devoid of mixing and diversity”, says the Federation of Migros Cooperatives. “Even if many social circles are not closed bubbles, they often tend towards homogeneity”.

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Two-thirds of rich and poor people know very few people from the other group. The proportion is the same for the highly educated versus those with no higher education or for German speakers compared to French or Italian speakers.

Respondents explain this phenomenon by a lack of opportunities to meet people, rather than a lack of interest. For a majority of respondents, a more mixed society would enrich them.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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