Majority consider wealth inequality to be too high in Switzerland
An impressive 80% believe that the wealth gap between the rich and those less well off in Switzerland is too large. Does this perception match reality? An expert gives answers.
What is more likely to be found under your Christmas tree this year – a book for CHF29 or a diamond ring for CHF2,900? The author of this article had to check the price of such a ring before writing these lines – a sure sign that she herself, as many others living in Switzerland, doesn’t move in these price brackets. Beyond a reality check, this may not bother the author any further. What however does bother many Swiss residents, as well as Swiss Abroad, is the growing inequality between the rich and the not so rich.
A large-scale survey by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company, of around 57,000 people shows: four out of five respondents consider the wealth gap to be too large.
Difference between perception and facts
it’s a fact that perception and numbers do not quite match. According to various studies, income in Switzerland is relatively broadly distributed. Only the top 10% have a stronger income growth than the average income, Isabel Martinez from the Center of Economic Research at Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich told SRF. In terms of income inequality, Switzerland is internationally in the middle range, and this inequality hasn’t increased significantly.
Isabel Martinez received her doctorate from the University of St. Gallen in 2016. Since 2022, she has been working as a senior researcher at the Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich. In addition, she has been a member of the Competition Commission COMCO since 2018.
The situation is somewhat different when it comes to assets. The highest wealth in this country has grown much bigger than the highest incomes. However, this picture of a rather broad distribution of income and greater inequality in wealth is not new. But the perception has apparently changed, observes Martinez. This has been accentuated by inflation in recent months.
What do you think? Join the discussion now in the new weekly debate on “dialogue”, an offer by the SBC.
Perception as a basis for decision-making
Whether wealth inequality actually is as strong as we perceive it to be is not the decisive factor, says the economist. After all, perception is crucial for what people decide politically.
You can read up on, among other things, the difference in perception between Italian-speaking Ticino and German-speaking Switzerland in the following selection of articles on the topic.
Translated from German by Claire Micallef
Claire Micallef
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