Poor – and expecting a child in 2013

About 600,000 people (7.5%) live below the poverty line in Switzerland, like Laetitia and Christophe, who lost their jobs and have a hard time making ends meet. They are expecting a child in 2013.

Poverty is a relative concept, varying from country to country. In absolute terms 600,000 people below the poverty line isn’t much, and in Switzerland very few are in real dire straights. But the percentage of those who are at risk of becoming poor -14.2% – is among the highest in Europe, behind Luxembourg and Norway, two countries where, like in Switzerland, you need to earn a lot of money to keep up with the high cost of living. (RSR-Temps present/swissinfo.ch).