With families in Switzerland paying the most in Europe for childcare, lawmakers have been scrambling to find ways to make raising a child cheaper. Here’s what's being discussed:
According to the latest data from the OECD, the cost of childcare in Switzerland remains by far the highest in Europe. Despite Swiss salaries being some of the most generous on the continent, on average a full-time place in childcare still costs 29 percent of a couple’s combined income.
Women’s umbrella organisation Alliance F noted that families pay between 3.236 and 5.828 francs a month for childcare. This is in dramatic contrast to the country’s neighbours: the OECD found that parents in Germany (1 percent of family income), Austria (2 percent) and France (11 percent) all pay a fraction of what Swiss families have to pay.
These differences in cost are mainly down to how childcare is funded. As it stands, beyond the family allowance, it is up to Swiss cantons to decide whether to subsidise childcare services, the vast majority of which are privately run.
This leads to a patchwork of coverage across the country. For instance, while Geneva, Vaud and Basel spend between 53 and 85 million francs a year on subsidies, places like Solothurn, Aargau and Zurich either spend nothing at all or let local authorities take the lead.
Supporters of greater childcare funding argue that Switzerland should do everything it can to make having children more affordable. For one, it is hoped that affordable childcare will allow more people to return to work earlier, boosting the economy.
With the government predicting that the number of retirees will rise to 25 percent of the population by 2055, they also fear that the country will be unable to afford its pensions and social security programmes without a higher birth rate. "Especially given the low birth rate… I find it completely incomprehensible that parents aren't given more support," Green Liberal Bern City Councillor Maurice Lindgren told the Tages-Anzeiger.
The boldest proposal designed to tackle high childcare costs is the Daycare or Kita Initiative, a referendum that is expected to be voted on next year. Under these plans, the amount couples spend on childcare would be capped at 10 percent of their income. The government would foot the rest of the bill, at a cost of between 2 and 2,5 billion francs a year.
This idea, considered too expensive and "radical" for the government and Federal Council, will likely face a counter-proposal - i.e, if the referendum is rejected by voters, the counter-proposal would automatically be enacted instead. Under this plan, approved by the National Council on May 6 and now being debated by the Council of States, parents would receive 100 francs for every day they send their child to daycare.
Though it is unclear how it would be financed, the counter-proposal would see up to 20 percent of childcare costs covered. The plan would also give cantons 200 million francs a year more for childcare subsidies.
However, even the counter-proposal faces resistance. For example, in its wide-ranging austerity measures, the Federal Council plans to withdraw from subsidising childcare completely in 2027, in a bid to balance the books.
"The federal government should stay out of daycare funding," argued Swiss People’s Party National Councillor Nadja Umbricht Pieren. Umbricht Pieren, who also runs three daycare centres in Bern, said that the subsidies being given so far do more harm than good as they lead to “a massive oversupply and are now putting many daycare centres under pressure because they can no longer fill their places."
"Good childcare should also be worth something to parents," she added, concluding that the current plans discriminate against those who use nannies or grandparents to care for their children while working.