Over the past 10ish years, inequality in Switzerland has slowly gone down. This is due to multiple government programs to promote social equality through a progressive tax system and multiple welfare programs (Le News). Despite this, there are still many problems that surround the country. One of the largest being gender inequality. Switzerland was late to the game when it comes to women's right to vote as they did not receive that until 1971. Since then things have improved, but in recent years things are once again starting to slow. While not getting worse, the rate at which the country has battled gender inequality has been slowly decreasing and they are starting to lag behind other countries (Another Strike against Gender Inequality in Switzerland). Despite this, Switzerland still has one of the lowest inequality rates in the world with the richest 20% only making 4.4 times what the poorest 20% make (Le News). Unfortunately, that statistic does not take into account the ultra-rich which use Switzerland as a tax haven. The income tax in Switzerland is very low (only 11.5% in the highest tax bracket) and they have an added bonus of being very safe and one of the few countries that guarantee privacy in banking. Because of this, the Gini coefficient is higher than it otherwise would be. This has also led to many large businesses moving into Switzerland in order to avoid taxes (Living in Switzerland).
Works Cited:
“Another Strike against Gender Inequality in Switzerland.” European CEO, www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/another-strike-against-gender-inequality-in-switzerland/.
Le News. “Income Inequality Declines in Switzerland.” Le News, 11 Apr. 2019, lenews.ch/2019/04/03/income-inequality-declines-in-switzerland/.
“Living in Switzerland.” No More Tax, 10 June 2020, nomoretax.eu/living/relocation-to-switzerland/.
