The Rich Swiss ?

Three per cent of the population owns half of Switzerland’s wealth. In recent times, the gap between Switzerland’s rich and poor has been growing. One in ten billionaires worldwide lives in Switzerland and 210,700 people possess more than $1 million (SFr990,000). According to the Basel sociology professor Ueli Mäder and his other two team members Sarah Schilliger and Ganaga Jey Aratnam, a person needs at least SFr30 million to be considered rich – and at least SFr100 million to be considered superrich. The study confirms that wealth and power go hand in hand. Having capital means having power. Power is exercised through networks and in a very targeted way that benefits the rich. Their research says that three per cent of the population have as much wealth as the remaining 97 per cent put together. Historically speaking, Switzerland, although not a colonial power, became rich through colonialism. Many Swiss gained wealth by exploiting resources in the southern hemisphere. Many multinationals, such as Nestlé or Novartis, are also based in Switzerland and their foreign labour force contributes a lot to building up wealth. Switzerland could be said to be one of the great profiteers of globalization.
(Neutrality has also played a role. As the country has mostly kept out of conflicts, there has been a continuity to its wealth, which contrasts with Germany, for example.)

Hugo Fasel, director of the Catholic church charity Caritas, says more than a quarter of a million Swiss children live below the poverty line. Switzerland has 260,000 children living in poverty. 9.3% of Swiss children live in relative poverty, according to the OECD. Ruedi Meier, president of the social policy unit of the Swiss Towns and Cities Initiative explains “Here in Switzerland we have a problem that a very low proportion of children from an immigrant background are making it to higher education. Our schools segregate very strongly according to social class and nationality.”

Caritas estimated earlier this year that up to 900,000 people – an estimated 12 per cent of the Swiss population – are in need of social welfare. 12% of pensioners need income support to make ends meet with up to a third of them - 45,000 – still living in poverty despite this assistance. 10% of single parents are "working poor". Their low pay means they remain in relative poverty despite working a regular working week. In 2006, 18% of single parents received social benefits. Social-welfare spending would seem to have gone up but spending has only gone up in absolute figures. If put into relation with Gross Domestic Product spending has fallen since 2004.