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The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) in Geneva wants shopping hours in Geneva to be standardized and extended. © Tea | Dreamstime.com In general, French-speaking Switzerland has stricter laws on opening hours that the rest of Switzerland. For example a Migros store in Zurich is open until 9pm every night except Sunday. A similar store in Geneva is only open until 9pm one day a week. The rest of the week it shuts between 6pm and 7:30pm. Stéphane Florey from the UDC reckons this is one reason why...

The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) in Geneva wants shopping hours in Geneva to be standardized and extended. © Tea | Dreamstime.com In general, French-speaking Switzerland has stricter laws on opening hours that the rest of Switzerland. For example a Migros store in Zurich is open until 9pm every night except Sunday. A similar store in Geneva is only open until 9pm one day a week. The rest of the week it shuts between 6pm and 7:30pm. Stéphane Florey from the UDC reckons this is one reason why...

Around a quarter of Swiss workers are stressed and exhausted, according to new research. © Rawpixelimages | Dreamstime.com A three-year study by the University of Bern and Zurich University of Applied Sciences, which covers the period from 2014 to 2016, estimates that this stress and exhaustion cost Swiss companies between CHF 5 and CHF 5.8 billion a year. The cost of sick days is only the tip of the iceberg. On-the-job inefficiency costs roughly twice as much as sick day absenteeism, says...

If you rent a home in Switzerland it is more likely to belong to an individual than a big real estate company or pension fund. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.com In 2017, 49% of residential rental properties in Switzerland were owned by individuals, according to Statistics published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. The highest rate of rental home ownership by individuals was in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino (71%). The lowest rate was in the Lake Geneva region (41%). The...

If you rent a home in Switzerland it is more likely to belong to an individual than a big real estate company or pension fund. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.com In 2017, 49% of residential rental properties in Switzerland were owned by individuals, according to Statistics published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. The highest rate of rental home ownership by individuals was in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino (71%). The lowest rate was in the Lake Geneva region (41%). The...

If you rent a home in Switzerland it is more likely to belong to an individual than a big real estate company or pension fund. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime.com In 2017, 49% of residential rental properties in Switzerland were owned by individuals, according to Statistics published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. The highest rate of rental home ownership by individuals was in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino (71%). The lowest rate was in the Lake Geneva region (41%). The...

Income inequality in Switzerland has remained stable according to a report published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. © Arturo Osorno _ Dreamstime.com A key measure of inequality involves dividing the income share of the top 20% by that of the bottom 20%, a measure known as S80/S20. 1 is complete equality. In 2015, the latest figure, the S80/S20 for Switzerland was 38.2, which means the top 20% had 38.2 times the income of the bottom 20%. This however was before tax and other...

Income inequality in Switzerland has remained stable according to a report published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. © Arturo Osorno _ Dreamstime.com A key measure of inequality involves dividing the income share of the top 20% by that of the bottom 20%, a measure known as S80/S20. 1 is complete equality. In 2015, the latest figure, the S80/S20 for Switzerland was 38.2, which means the top 20% had 38.2 times the income of the bottom 20%. This however was before tax and other...

A poll run by the media group Tamedia shows a clear majority in favour of rejecting the initiative, dubbed “No Billag”, which aims to end Switzerland’s broadcasting fee. This poll follows one done in December 2017, which showed a majority in favour of the initiative. © Jakkapan Jabjainai | Dreamstime.com In December 57% were either fully or quite in favour of voting yes. This time the same percentage is 40%, with 59% saying they are fully or quite in favour of rejecting it. There are modest...

The Economist has just published its January 2018 Big Mac index, a light-hearted measure of whether currencies are under or overvalued. The underlying assumption is that a Big Mac is the same whether bought in Kiev or Chur, so any price difference must be due to the exchange rate. © Sergiomonti _ Dreamstime.com In January 2018, Swiss Big Macs were still the world’s most expensive, making the Swiss franc the most overvalued currency, 28.1% higher than it should be. The implied exchange rate is...