Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
How families could end up with less disposable income and allergies on the way - this and other Swiss news in our brief daily roundup
Achoo! Bad news for allergy sufferers in Switzerland
'Tis the season for watery eyes and scratchy throats.
Spring can be wonderful, except if you suffer from hay fever or other seasonal allergies that pop up at this time of the year and make you feel out of sorts.
If you are one of those people, expect to be sneezing and sniffling a lot for the rest of the week.
That’s because according to the Swiss Allergy Center, quite a few regions in Switzerland (marked in red on the map below) currently have a high concentration of pollen and similar allergy-inducing substances in the air.
Screenshot: Swiss Allergy Center
Purchasing power of Swiss families to drop drastically
A family with two children risks ‘losing’ more than 3,000 francs on average over a year, according to the calculation of the Swiss Trade Union (USS). For a single person, the loss would amount to 1,600 francs.
This decline in the purchasing power can be blamed on the 8 to 10-percent increase in health premiums, as well as higher energy prices and inflation, said USS’ president Pierre-Yves Maillard.
“The middle class and low-income households are likely to suffer" the most, he said, adding that subsidies paid to needy people will have to increase by 10 percent in order to compensate for the losses.
READ MORE: How Covid, Ukraine and energy costs are changing Swiss spending habits
Yet another essential (for some) consumer good set to become more expensive
We already know that energy costs and price of certain foods have gone up or are expected to increase in the near future.
Now we get the news that beer may become more expensive as well.
That’s because Ukraine is an important producer of barley, a basic raw material used in beer production, according to Marcel Kerber, director of the Swiss Brewery Association (SBA).
How much and how quickly the prices will increase depends on the evolution of energy costs which, in turn, are determined by how much longer the war in Ukraine will go on.
The good news, if any can be found in the current situation, is that there is no impending shortage of raw materials, as the breweries operate with long-term supply contracts, Kerber said.
So cheers to that.
Another effect of Ukraine war: Increased demand for gun licenses
In some Swiss cities and cantons, requests for weapon licenses have increased by between 50 and 100 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, public broadcaster SRF reports.
Cantons like Zurich and Aargau, for example, have registered “significantly more” applications.
"Specifically, we are talking about an increase of around 50 percent compared to the same period last year", according to Michael Wirz, police chief of Winterthur, a city in canton Zurich.
While around 80 applications were submitted by mid-April in 2021, the figure was 127 this year, he said.
READ MORE: How Swiss weapons are being used on both sides of the Ukraine-Russia conflict
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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Achoo! Bad news for allergy sufferers in Switzerland
'Tis the season for watery eyes and scratchy throats.
Spring can be wonderful, except if you suffer from hay fever or other seasonal allergies that pop up at this time of the year and make you feel out of sorts.
If you are one of those people, expect to be sneezing and sniffling a lot for the rest of the week.
That’s because according to the Swiss Allergy Center, quite a few regions in Switzerland (marked in red on the map below) currently have a high concentration of pollen and similar allergy-inducing substances in the air.
Screenshot: Swiss Allergy Center
Purchasing power of Swiss families to drop drastically
A family with two children risks ‘losing’ more than 3,000 francs on average over a year, according to the calculation of the Swiss Trade Union (USS). For a single person, the loss would amount to 1,600 francs.
This decline in the purchasing power can be blamed on the 8 to 10-percent increase in health premiums, as well as higher energy prices and inflation, said USS’ president Pierre-Yves Maillard.
“The middle class and low-income households are likely to suffer" the most, he said, adding that subsidies paid to needy people will have to increase by 10 percent in order to compensate for the losses.
READ MORE: How Covid, Ukraine and energy costs are changing Swiss spending habits
Yet another essential (for some) consumer good set to become more expensive
We already know that energy costs and price of certain foods have gone up or are expected to increase in the near future.
Now we get the news that beer may become more expensive as well.
That’s because Ukraine is an important producer of barley, a basic raw material used in beer production, according to Marcel Kerber, director of the Swiss Brewery Association (SBA).
How much and how quickly the prices will increase depends on the evolution of energy costs which, in turn, are determined by how much longer the war in Ukraine will go on.
The good news, if any can be found in the current situation, is that there is no impending shortage of raw materials, as the breweries operate with long-term supply contracts, Kerber said.
So cheers to that.
Another effect of Ukraine war: Increased demand for gun licenses
In some Swiss cities and cantons, requests for weapon licenses have increased by between 50 and 100 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, public broadcaster SRF reports.
Cantons like Zurich and Aargau, for example, have registered “significantly more” applications.
"Specifically, we are talking about an increase of around 50 percent compared to the same period last year", according to Michael Wirz, police chief of Winterthur, a city in canton Zurich.
While around 80 applications were submitted by mid-April in 2021, the figure was 127 this year, he said.
READ MORE: How Swiss weapons are being used on both sides of the Ukraine-Russia conflict
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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