Prekäre Lebenslagen. Subjektive Bewertungen und Handlungsstrategien in Haushalten mit knappen finanziellen Ressourcen - 2003

It is estimated that half of the people and households who live in precarious financial circumstances and are entitled to assistance do not claim social benefits. Why they behave in this way is largely unknown.
The project aims to clarify the issue of so-called "hidden poverty". It is particularly interested in the living conditions and lifestyle of households without support benefits, the reasons for not claiming them and the associated individual coping strategies of those affected.
The benefit of the study is that, for the first time, it provides scientifically reliable information about social groups that manage without public support despite limited financial resources. It shows what the reasons are.
In order to focus pragmatically on important forms of support, the project deals with social assistance and supplementary benefits.

The study was conducted in 2 cantons: Berne (rather high level of performance, municipal execution) and St. Gall (rather lower level of performance, municipal execution).
The results of the surveys must be embedded in the political-institutional environment in order to enable usable statements on the effects of existing support systems. Since this environment varies considerably from canton to canton and also within the cantons in the area of social assistance, a nationwide survey is not feasible or only at great expense. The focus is therefore on the systematic selection of a limited number of cantons. In particular, the level of performance and the organisation of implementation (municipal or cantonal) are taken into account.
Innercantonal variations relate in particular to the degree of professionalisation of social assistance institutions and the extent of indirect benefits available (subsidised housing construction, third-party care facilities for children, school dental clinics, etc.), which can relieve social assistance and supplementary benefits. These two dimensions therefore play an important role in the selection of municipalities.