Editing Switzerland (section)

=== Labour force ===
{{see also|Immigration to Switzerland}}
Slightly more than 5 million people work in Switzerland;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Work and income |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312075052/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income.html |archive-date=12 March 2017 |access-date=13 March 2017}}</ref> about 25% of employees belonged to a trade union in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trade Unions – Switzerland |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/trade_unions |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116072616/http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/trade_unions |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=17 December 2012}}</ref> Switzerland has a more flexible [[job market|labor market]] than neighbouring countries and the unemployment rate is consistently low.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2014/06/the-peculiar-swiss-unemployment-rate/ |title=The peculiar Swiss unemployment rate |last=Zimmerman |first=Christian |date=2 June 2014 |department=FRED Blog |website=[[Federal Reserve Economic Data|FRED]] |publisher=[[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916150219/https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2014/06/the-peculiar-swiss-unemployment-rate/ |archive-date=2024-09-16}}</ref> The unemployment rate increased from 1.7% in June 2000 to 4.4% in December 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 January 2010 |title=Swiss jobless reach 12-year high – a mere 4.4 pct |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729195906/http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2010738861_apeuswitzerlandunemployment.html |archive-date=29 July 2013 |website=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> It then decreased to 3.2% in 2014 and held steady for several years, before further dropping to 2.5% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019; in 2023 it had reached a 20-year low of 2%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-unemployment-hits-twenty-year-low-is-it-all-good-news/49115172 |title=Swiss jobless rate hits 20-year low: all good news? |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Domhnall |date=10 January 2024 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614133317/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-unemployment-hits-twenty-year-low-is-it-all-good-news/49115172 |archive-date=2024-06-14}}</ref> Population growth (from net immigration) reached 0.52% of population in 2004, increased in the following years before falling to 0.54% again in 2017.<ref name="yearbook2008" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=31 August 2018 |title=Rückläufige Zuwanderung bremst Bevölkerungswachstum |work=[[Aargauer Zeitung]] |location=Aarau, Switzerland |url=https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/ruecklaeufige-zuwanderung-bremst-bevoelkerungswachstum-133017362 |url-status=live |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212221658/https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/ruecklaeufige-zuwanderung-bremst-bevoelkerungswachstum-133017362 |archive-date=12 February 2020}}</ref> The [[List of countries by immigrant population|foreign citizen population]] was 28.9% in 2015, about the same as in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2013 |title=The Conference Board Total Economy Database – Output, Labor, and Labor Productivity, 1950–2012 |url=http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/#GDP_perHourWorked |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708232452/http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/#GDP_perHourWorked |archive-date=8 July 2010 |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=[[The Conference Board]] |at=GDP per Hour, in 2012 EKS$ |format=Excel}}</ref>

In 2016, the median monthly gross income in Switzerland was 6,502 francs per month (equivalent to US$6,597 per month).<ref name="SWI-Are most" /> After rent, taxes and pension contributions, plus spending on goods and services, the average household has about 15% of its gross income left for savings. Though 61% of the population made less than the mean income, income inequality is relatively low with a [[Gini coefficient]] of 29.7, placing Switzerland among the top 20 countries. In 2015, the richest 1% owned 35% of the wealth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 February 2016 |title=Inequality in Switzerland |url=https://lenews.ch/2016/02/01/inequality-in-switzerland/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223074827/https://lenews.ch/2016/02/01/inequality-in-switzerland/ |archive-date=23 December 2021 |access-date=23 December 2021 |website=Le News |language=en}}</ref> Wealth inequality increased through 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2019 |title=Report warns of rising wealth inequality in Switzerland |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/-two-speed--society_report-warns-of-rising-wealth-inequality-in-switzerland/45248862 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223075301/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/-two-speed--society_report-warns-of-rising-wealth-inequality-in-switzerland/45248862 |archive-date=23 December 2021 |access-date=23 December 2021 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en |agency=Keystone-SDA}}</ref>

About 8.2% of the population live below [[Poverty in Switzerland|the national poverty line]], defined in Switzerland as earning less than CHF3,990 per month for a household of two adults and two children, and a further 15% are at risk of poverty. Single-parent families, those with no post-compulsory education and those out of work are among the most likely to live below the poverty line. Although work is considered a way out of poverty, some 4.3% are considered working poor. One in ten jobs in Switzerland is considered low-paid; roughly 12% of Swiss workers hold such jobs, many of them women and foreigners.<ref name="SWI-Are most" />