Switzerland: The land of the rich?

Switzerland must be one of richest countries in Europe if not the world. Unlike Germany, France, America, and other first world nations, there doesn't seem to be any people that are destitute. Even Oslo, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world, had beggars in the streets. Zurich has been named the wealthiest city in Europe. It is not that Swiss live better than the average first world citizen, but they don't seem to have an underclass of citizens like in almost every other country. Even in poorest countries in Europe such as Romania or Ukraine, all the things that we have is also available there. But in these countries, you can see that there are many people living in poverty. Most of these people seem to be old women, children, or people with disabilities, drug, or alcohol problems.

Wandering around Zurich and a small town of Wil, 60 km east of Zurich, I did not see a single homeless person or someone begging. Even in the central train station, I did not see any beggars, homeless people, nor did anyone harass me for money. Everyone seemed like a normal person with all the basic necessities of life. The Swiss do complain that everything is expensive, but even in this economic crisis, unemployment is only around 4% (compared with 2% before crisis). The minimum salary seems to be around 3,500 Swiss Fracs per month for unskilled labor. That is not as much as it seems since everything seems to cost double what it does in Germany or the United States, but it does not seem hard to have a decent life on that salary either. A comparable job in America would pay less than $2,000 per month perhaps even less if you are one of the 20 million people in America illegally. I got a ride to Cologne from a German Polish living and working in Zurich. He said he was a custodian cleaning buildings. He said life was much better in Switzerland than in Germany. The pay was much higher and he did not have to work as hard.

Prices are very expensive in Switzerland. A kebab is 10 Swiss francs (US$9) compared with 2.50 Euro in Germany (US$3). A Big Mac meal at McDonalds is around 12 CHF (US$10). Eating out is VERY expensive. Expect to pay at least 25-30 CHF (US$22-26) or more for any sit down restaurant for an entree. But food in supermarkets does not seem to be more expensive than anywhere else. Still, there are ways to live relatively inexpensively and to save a large amount of money while working here. It seems a lot of Europeans, especially Germans do this since they do not have a language barrier.

The environment here is very clean. The air, the water, and the landscape are all very clean. Much of the tourism here seems to be centered around the nature, the Swiss Alps especially. Zurich is a very cosmopolitan city with a wide variety of people from around the world.