The Bern family reveals their household budget: that’s how tight it is for the middle class

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“We are Migros children,” says Paul Z.*. ‘Migros campaigns for children, to be precise.’ His family has to pay close attention to expenses. Even more so in the future, because health insurance premiums, electricity and much more will become more expensive. Paul Z. is willing to give Blick insight into his household budget if he can remain anonymous. The budget shows what medium-sized companies must prepare for.

Paul is in his forties and married. He lives near the city of Bern and works at the post office. His wife is in her mid-40s and works at SBB 50 percent of the time. The couple have a 17-year-old daughter who is currently attending college, and their 14-year-old son is still in school.

There are no more 100 francs left

The couple earns a net of 7,850 francs. There is also a child benefit of 580 francs in total. Plus – depending on the service – surcharges. But these don’t happen regularly. Without this, there will be just under 65 francs left at the end of the month. “We are very frugal – especially my wife,” says Paul Z. But if there is still 400 francs left at the end of the month thanks to the allowances, “then that is a lot,” says the Bernese. “And this happens far too rarely.”

The apartment is the only small luxury the family can afford. When the children were still small, the opportunity arose to move there. It cost 150 francs more than the previous apartment, but it has 80 square meters of lawn. “That was of course great for the two children. – And yes, I recently became a smoker!” Friends and family came together to make Paul’s birthday dream come true.

1000 francs for health insurance

The postal worker assumes that his rent will not become more expensive next year. Despite the falling reference interest rate, he has never pushed for a rent reduction in recent years. However, he is not entirely sure that there will not be an increase.

But what is already clear: in Paul’s hometown, the kilowatt hour of electricity increases by almost 2 cents. For the family this means an additional cost of 75 francs per year. The Z. family already had to deal with a 12 cent increase in electricity prices this year.

And health insurance premiums are also going up. The family of four currently pays almost 1,000 francs per month, including additional insurance. Basic insurance alone currently costs 805 francs. The basic premiums for the same health insurer will now cost 873 francs. This means that the increase corresponds almost exactly to the average increase of 8.3 percent in the canton of Bern. The extra monthly costs of 68 francs for basic insurance alone are more than Paul’s middle-class family normally has left at the end of the month.

The family will have to limit themselves in the coming year, even though the couple is better off than many other couples with a gross household income of more than 100,000 francs. However, the example shows that things are now also getting tight for middle-class families due to inflation.

According to the Internet health insurance calculator, if the entire Z. family were to switch to the cheapest health insurance, they would save only 33.30 francs. Of course, the family could also ‘downsize’ the additional insurance, but Paul and his wife consider the extra francs as money well invested. “These were certainly worthwhile for the children.” The couple has taken out dental insurance for them. Both children wear braces. Without insurance it would be much more expensive.

Only go abroad every two years

But where do they save? On holiday? While other families go to the sea for two weeks every summer and perhaps go on a skiing holiday in the winter, the Berner family has to make do with one week of holiday a year. We only go abroad once every two years. “There is simply nothing more,” says Paul, who will soon travel to Graubünden. “Thanks to our connections, we can use a holiday apartment there very cheaply. And I’m almost a little ashamed of it: those few days of vacation were also possible for us thanks to a financial donation from our mother-in-law.”

The fact that a couple who, like Paul and his wife, work for one of the large Swiss state companies can barely make ends meet is something to think about. The woman even benefits from a second-class GA travel card, which relieves the burden on the mobility budget. “But I have to go to work by car, because without a car I wouldn’t be able to get there early in the morning. As a thank you, I have to pay another 30 francs for the parking space,” he says. “For this I receive a meal allowance of 5 francs from the post office.” But he has not yet found the restaurant where you can get lunch for 5 francs, jokes Paul, who earns about 65,000 francs gross per year at the post office. “But it’s not really possible that the flat rate isn’t even enough for a sandwich,” he says.

Million dollar salary, but free parking

By comparison, postal boss Roberto Cirillo (52) has an annual salary of over a million francs. Like all members of the Postgroep management, Cirillo also has its own parking space. But he hardly needs this. Cirillo almost always comes by public transport, as information from Post Blick confirms. Cirillo pays for its own AV.

If Cirillo, like Paul, had to pay 0.6 percent of his annual salary for the parking space, he would have to pay 6,000 francs annually. The post office says it is investigating whether management should continue to receive free parking spaces in the future. From Paul’s point of view, free parking could be made available to those who need it.

Above all, households like the Z. family hope for full compensation for inflation and, if necessary, a small real wage increase – and for a lenient landlord who does not increase the rent even if he could. Otherwise, the Zs would likely have to cut back on contingencies and gifts budget items. The family notices this the least – at least as long as nothing unexpected happens.

Source:Blick