Negative assessment of social cohesion in Switzerland

According to this representative survey of 1104 people, which was conducted by the Center for Religion, Economics and Politics (ZRWP) at the University of Lucerne, only just under 40 percent of the Swiss population rate the current social cohesion in the country as positive.

A quarter of the population perceive cohesion as "neither bad nor good", and a third of respondents rate it negatively. The focus was on the subjective assessment of current cohesion compared to the past.

When asked how they perceived social cohesion during their own youth, respondents were much more positive. The focus of the answers here was on the categories "rather good" and "good".

According to the authors, the perceived deterioration is therefore considerable: While the majority of respondents rated social cohesion as "good" in the past, indifferent and poor ratings predominate in the present.

Cohesion is under pressure

"The results of our pilot study indicate that social cohesion in Switzerland is under pressure," notes Antonius Liedhegener, co-author of this research work, together with Anastas Odermatt, who was quoted in a press release issued by the university on Friday.

Furthermore, these perceptions are largely independent of traditional socio-demographic factors such as age, gender or level of education. Current and past cohesion is always rated very similarly across all social classes. It is therefore a matter of widespread public opinion.

This pilot survey is a first step on the way to a larger study on this topic planned by the ZRWP. The aim is to determine the background to social cohesion and possible strategies for promoting it in Switzerland in the medium term.