Tens of thousands of retirees are giving up on additional benefits

A fifth of the Swiss population aged 65 and over is affected or at risk of poverty. This is the conclusion of the Pro Senectute Foundation’s current age tracker.

Peter Burri of Pro Senectute says the precarious living situation of the elderly is partly due to the fact that they have not applied for supplementary benefits (EL). “We assume that there are tens of thousands of people who are eligible but do not receive any additional assistance.” It is likely that there will be largely elderly people who do not live in a nursing home. Because when it comes to pensioners and nursing home residents, it can be assumed that in case of doubt, EL will be applied.

Women are twice as likely to be affected

According to the research, 46,000 elderly people, that is, 3.1 percent of the Swiss population over the age of 65, are considered poor. The limit is assets below 30,000 francs and a monthly income of 2,279 francs corresponding to the subsistence level. In addition, since these people do not have a house of their own, they live in a rented apartment.

Old age poverty affects women almost twice as often as men. This is because of the gender-specific distribution of roles: men went to work and increased their retirement savings, while women spent most of their life at home, resulting in corresponding gaps in old age service. Other risk factors are low education level, not being married or being a foreign national.

Retirees affected by poverty often live in rural areas without additional assistance. There may also be socio-cultural reasons for this. “In small, rural communities, people know each other and are embarrassed to receive financial support from the public sector,” write the study’s authors.