In 2022, social assistance payments fell for the fourth year in a row, while the rate of recipients was lower than ever. Net expenditure amounted to CHF2.5 billion ($2.78 billion) – a decrease of 9.2% compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Friday. At 2.9%, the rate of social assistance was lower than ever before. The nominal decrease of CHF253 million in 2022 is the sharpest in years. According to the FSO, the drop is closely linked to the lower number of social assistance recipients (-3.1%) as well as the decline in average annual net expenditure per recipient (-6.2%). The FSO lists several factors influencing the decline, including the favourable economic and labour market situation, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic – which had no direct impact on social assistance expenditure in 2022, it said. Subscribe here to read our weekly top stories More supplementary benefits Overall, the expenditure of CHF2.5 billion on economic social assistance ...
