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In Caritas markets, people affected by poverty can buy cheap food. In view of the inflation, the offer is in high demand.
If you have to turn over every franc twice, inflation hits you particularly hard. In November, the conference of social directors of the cantons called for an increase in social assistance. Analogous to the adjustment of the AHV and IV pensions, the so-called basic requirement in social assistance is also to be increased by 2.5 percent. Namely by 25 francs to 1031 francs per month. That’s 300 francs a year.
Most cantons have complied with this recommendation. But not all.
Bern observes instead of acting
While the canton of Bern will pay its civil servants 1.2 percent more wages next year, those on social assistance are waiting in vain for an inflationary adjustment. Instead of taking action, the Bernese government prefers to wait and see and “observe” the situation.
Bern is the only canton that has not increased its basic social welfare requirement by a single franc for over ten years. All in all, social assistance recipients in Bern will receive almost 650 francs less this year than in most other cantons. The basic needs must be enough to pay for food, clothes, public transport tickets and all other personal expenses. Rent and health insurance, for example, are billed separately. As early as 2014, the municipal council of the city of Bern described the lack of cost-of-living adjustments as “incomprehensible”.
communities protest
The fact that the canton is so stingy with social welfare recipients is causing resentment in some communities. The municipality of Madiswil, for example, believes that an increase is “urgently indicated” in view of inflation and rising electricity prices. You and around two dozen other communities and community associations have vented their anger in a letter to the cantonal government.
But the Bernese government is not impressed by this. From their point of view, there is no reason to increase the basic requirement. Electricity prices, for example, are no higher in the BKW supply area than in recent years, says Gundekar Giebel, spokesman for the Canton of Bern’s Department of Social Affairs. In addition, not only the basic needs should be included in the assessment of the living situation of people receiving social assistance.
“People on social assistance are entitled to personal and economic help and, in addition, to a large number of social services in order to be able to participate in social life,” Giebel justifies the government’s position. The cantonal parliament also rejected cost-of-living adjustments in social assistance when discussing the 2023 budget.
The Bernese executive does not find it a problem that the canton’s employees are receiving more wages at the same time. You can’t compare the basic need for social assistance and a wage.
St. Gallen also stingy
Nathalie Barthoulot (54), Jura government councilor and president of the social directors’ conference, does not want to comment on Bern’s departure. But she sticks to it: “People who receive social assistance are particularly hard hit by inflation. A balance is therefore necessary.”
Another German-speaking canton that doesn’t care about the recommendation is St. Gallen. Social assistance is the responsibility of the municipalities there. An increase was recommended for them on January 1st. However, it is about the implementation of an older recommendation, not the cost-of-living adjustment. This, while the wages of canton employees have risen by 1.5 percent due to inflation.
Elsewhere it takes a little longer
Geneva, on the other hand, has decided to compensate for inflation, albeit on a smaller scale than most other cantons. In addition, the rates for basic social assistance requirements are still lower than in many places even after the increase. The cantons of Jura and Solothurn also pay less than the CHF 1,031 per month for a single person, although both have increased the previous amount by 2.5 percent to 2023, as recommended.
There are also a few cantons that only adjust social assistance to inflation at a later point in time. Neuchâtel, for example, only on April 1st, Valais at an as yet unspecified point in time “in the spring”. The Nidwalden government has announced that the decision can be expected next week. The increase in social assistance should then be retroactive to January 1st. The canton of Friborg has not yet communicated whether and to what extent it will adjust social assistance rates to inflation.
Parliament now decides in Bern
The increase has been decided for a long time in Zurich, among other places. “Many social welfare recipients are particularly affected by the current situation,” government councilor Mario Fehr is quoted as saying in a government statement. For them, the canton is “there even in difficult times”.
The last word has not yet been spoken in Bern either. The Greens are taking the rise in prices as an opportunity to make a new attempt in Parliament for higher social welfare rates in the canton. The Great Council will probably discuss this in the spring.