Onsernone bets on allowances and subsidies to curb depopulation

In the Onsernone valley, in the Locarno region, the population continues to shrink and age. Across Loco, Russo, Vergeletto and the other hamlets of the single municipality formed in 2016 from nine fractions, the number of residents has fallen by 10% over the past decade. Today there are 643 inhabitants, the lowest figure ever recorded. Among Swiss municipalities, Onsernone ranks tenth for the highest average age and sixth for the lowest proportion of residents under 15.

The municipality has one of the lowest financial capacities in the canton, able to invest only around 200,000 francs a year. Its territory, by contrast, is among the largest in Ticino: 104 square kilometres, more than 80% of which is forest.

Vanishing services

Mayor Andri Kunz, interviewed by RSI's SEIDISERA programme, points to the causes of the exodus: there is no industry and few jobs, and services keep dwindling. Loco once had a bank; today only a cash machine remains. The post office became an agency run by the municipality for several years before it, too, had to close. The biggest problem is the lack of rental housing: most homes in the valley are second or holiday residences, while few apartments are available for those who want to settle there permanently.

To address the crisis, the municipal council has drawn up a series of incentives: allowances for newborns, discounts on public transport, and subsidies for firewood, pellets and petrol. Nadir Cortesi, head of the Schools and Health department, explains that such a complex problem cannot have a single solution, so the strategy must be multi-pronged: the aim is both to slow the demographic decline and to attract new people, particularly young people and families.

The most original measure is the “assegno vita” (“life allowance”), a contribution of up to 5,000 francs for couples who must resort to medically assisted reproduction for strictly medical reasons — an expense that in Switzerland remains entirely at families' own cost. Cortesi describes it as an almost symbolic gesture toward the cantonal and federal authorities, since the valley is already living the demographic reality the rest of the country will face in ten or twenty years.

The allowance is not unconditional: to receive it, applicants must have lived in Onsernone for at least twelve months and must remain in the valley for the following ten years. Anyone who leaves earlier must repay the contribution.

It remains to be seen whether financial incentives, however wide-ranging, can alone make up for the lack of jobs and housing that drives people away, or whether Onsernone's challenge also calls for stronger support from the canton and the Confederation.