Switzerland

Availability:

• The Swiss govt. requires citizens to buy private insurances.

• According to a Switzerland information site regarding healthcare, “he insured person pays the insurance premium for the basic plan up to 8% of their personal income.” However, should a person buy a premium that goes beyond 8% of personal income, the govt. will grant them a cash subsidy (“Health Care System,”2016).

• According to Forbes magazine, approximately 99% of all Switzerland citizens have at least basic private insurance coverage, meaning they have low deductibles but a high responsibility for any future medical costs 42% of the 99% of insured citizens choose to pay a higher deductible for this reason.

Fast Facts of Switzerland’s Economic Stability

• Percentage of people living below the poverty line – 7.7% *Approximately 1 in 13 people in Switzerland live in poverty (Report: one in 13 Swiss residents 'in poverty', para. 2)

• Percentage of unemployed – 3.2% in August 2016 (Switzerland Unemployment Rate, para. 1)

• Food security and housing stability– I couldn’t find exact figures through my research although I was able to infer that neither are a major problem

Swiss Poverty

“Switzerland may be one of the world's richest nations but as many as one resident in 13 lives in poverty, official data showed on Tuesday.” (Report: one in 13 Swiss residents 'in poverty', para. 1)

Fast Facts of USA’s Economic Stability

• People living below the poverty line – 13.5% (Poverty, p.1)

• Percentage of unemployed – 4.9% in August 2016 (United States Unemployment Rate, para.1)

• Food security in USA’s household – 12.7% were not secure in food in 2015 (Coleman-Jensen, 2016)

• Housing stability – Between 2013 and 2014 18.3% of USA’s population was homeless (The State of Homelessness in America 2015, p.2)

Switzerland Vs. United States In Economic Stability?

Switzerland Wins!!!

Switzerland also came out ahead in the Forbes.com rankings for Best Countries for Business. Switzerland was voted 12th and the United States was voted 22nd.

Reasons behind Switzerland coming out ahead in economic stability

• Switzerland is a neutral country.

• The United States has an astronomical amount of national debt.

• Higher unemployment rate in the United States

• Higher inflation rate in the United States

• More people living in poverty in the United States

Family Structure:

Works Cited

Conclusion

Social Environment

Social Cohesion in family structure, social structure, and social support

Social Structure

Social Support

Economic Stability

Civic Participation

Switzerland ranks above the average in subjective well-being, jobs and earnings, income and wealth, health status, social connections, environmental quality, education and skills, and personal security, but ranks below average in civic engagement.

Gender Discrimination

A ranking of 1 means that a country has complete gender equality. Switzerland scores a 1.05

Social and Community Compared to US

Family Structure

Social Structure

Social Support

Civic Participation

Incarceration

Compulsory

• Educational content varies between cantons and municipalities

• In addition to one of the four national languages the school uses as the primary language spoken at the school, students will also learn English and one of the other four national languages

• Compulsory schooling prepares every child to continue into post-compulsory if desired

• Required for all Swiss children

• 95% of children attend public school with the remain 5% in private school

• Public compulsory education is free of charge to the student’s family

• 11 years in length

• Compulsory education costs are primary covered by cantons and municipalities, not the federal government.

Female prisoners (percentage of prison population)

4.7% (3.9.2014)

Juveniles / minors (percentage of prison population)

0.4% (3.9.2014 - under 18)

Foreign prisoners (percentage of prison population)

73.0% (3.9.2014)

• According to Best Countries for Business: Switzerland, “It’s economic and political stability, transparent legal system, exceptional infrastructure, efficient capital markets, and low corporate tax rates also make Switzerland one of the world’s most competitive economies.” (2015, para. 1)

Post-compulsory

• This schooling is elective

• Not publicly funded

• Has many opportunities to stop schooling along this path and enter workforce

• Divided into 2 categories: upper secondary and tertiary

Upper secondary

• Divided into 2 paths: vocational (students train for a certain vocation) and tertiary preparation (student prepare for tertiary education)

• 90% of the country’s student population completes one of these paths

• 3 years in length

Tertiary

• Consist of university education

• In total about 45% of country’s adults end up with a tertiary education degree

• Degrees range from Bachelor’s degrees to Doctorate’s

Switzerland education compared to US education similarities

• Both education systems allow students to discontinue their education at age 16

• Both education systems allow students to receive education from pre-school to postdoctoral studies

• Both systems value pre-school education

• The tertiary level in Switzerland almost mirrors the college level in the United States

• Most of the population in the two countries are literate

Switzerland education compared to US education differences

• Switzerland’s equivalent of US’s high school is distantly separated in to a vocational path and a tertiary preparation path.

• Most Switzerland students will know 3 languages by the time they have completed their schooling

• More students in the US attend private school for primary/compulsory education than in Switzerland.

• In the US the path up the educational ladder is straight where as in Switzerland there is more curvature to their educational ladder

PRESCHOOL

• Elective except for in small areas

• Not publicly funded

• 98% of Swiss children attend

• Usually starts around age 4

• Consists of 1-2 years of schooling

Health Care System

1- Availability:

• Education includes preschool (elective except for in small areas), compulsory (required) and post-compulsory (elective) education

• Educational content varies between cantons and municipalities of the country

• Primary language spoken in school is one of the four national languages: German, French, Italian, or Romansh

• Swiss education has a high degree of permeability

• Swiss education has open access to different types of education

• Literacy is close to 100%

Social

and

Community

How does Switzerland’s Health statistics compare to US?

The government does not provide insurance. Therefore, all citizens are responsible for buying their own private insurance

• The average life expectancy in the US is 76yrs for males and 81yrs for females.

• Meaning, Switzerland has a longer life expectancy by 4 more years for males and 3 more years for females.

• The US’ leading YLLS include ischemic heart disease and lung cancer, but it also includes Alzheimer disease.

• Alzheimer disease is only a disability adjusted life years for Switzerland

• US DALYs include dietary risk, high-body index, and smoking.

• Interesting note about Switzerland and US obesity rates. This is the most recent information from the WHO’s data regarding % overweight and %obese.

 Switzerland’s overweight population accounts for approx. 37.3% of the total population. However, the obesity rate among that 37% is only 8%.

 US’s overweight population accounts for approx. 66.9% of the total population with 33% of the 66% being obese. Meaning, half of the overweight population is obese.

COST

• approximately 68 billion CHF (swiss francs) has been spent on healthcare in 2012

• “Hospitals account for 44% of all health costs”

Education

2- Cost

Economic Stability

3- Language Barrier: Verry little

Introduction

Language Barrier

• four primary languages: French, German, Itallian, and Romanish (Swiss native language)

• English is the number one secondary language learned

Switzerland Health Statistics

Health

and

Health Care

Neighborhood and Built Environment

• The most recent average life expectancy average is 80.5yrs. for males

and 84.8 years for females.

• In regards to years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs)ischemic heart disease (a.k.a coronary disease), lung cancer, and cerebrovascular disease were the highest ranking causes.

• Among the leading causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) since1990, Alzheimer disease has increased by almost 35-40% by 2013. However, road injuries showed the largest decrease, falling 62.4% between 1990—2013.

• In terms of DALYs in Switzerland, tobacco smoke, dietary risks, and high body-mass index were the leading risk factors in 2013.

Switzerland

In all categories, Switzerland came out ahead.

Overall health is better in Switzerland than in the United States