In a bid to boost purchasing power, commissions in both chambers of parliament have approved a rise in the Swiss family allowance. The plans have garnered a cross-party following, while employers have warned of the extra cost.
At votes at the beginning of the week, the Committee for Social Security and Health in both chambers of parliament greenlit a proposal to increase the minimum family allowance in Switzerland. The proposal, submitted by Evangelical People's Party National Councillor Marc Jost, would see most families with dependant children receive more benefits.
Currently, working residents of Switzerland with dependent children up to the age of 16 are entitled to a family allowance - if your dependant child is unable to work due to illness, benefits continue to 20 years old. In addition, parents with children aged 16 to 25 are entitled to an education / vocational allowance, so long as they remain in education. The benefit is paid for by contributions from companies.
While the policy is enforced at the federal level, it is up to Swiss cantons to determine how high payments should be. At the moment, the minimum family allowance set by the government is 200 francs a month, rising to 250 francs a month for the education allowance.
Under the new plans, the minimum monthly allowance would be raised to 250 and 300 francs respectively, giving families 600 francs a year more per child. This rise would apply to all but seven cantons - Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Fribourg, Vaud, Valais, Zug and Jura already pay families more than 250 francs per child.
Speaking at the debate, Jost said that “the monthly 50 francs per child will ease the burden on families and represent only a slight additional burden for employers." The latest data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) suggests that it costs 850 francs a month to raise a child in Switzerland. This is made worse by the fact that most parents ease back their jobs to care for their children due to the high cost of childcare, further cutting back on family budgets.
Jost added that "the high costs are one of several factors why we have so few children in Switzerland" - an FSO study from spring 2024 noted that four in 10 Swiss families forgo having more children because of high costs. "A more generous contribution can have an influence on family planning," he argued.
The plan itself has garnered strong bipartisan support in parliament, with Centre Party State Councillor Peter Hegglin agreeing that “society only renews itself when young people are prepared to have children.” He went even further than Jost, calling for the family allowance to be indexed to inflation.
The Swiss People’s Party is also in favour, with councillor Hannes Germann saying that "children are our future and also finance our social security system." However, he conceded that "the heart is in favour of it, but the mind still offers some resistance" when it came to forcing cantons to raise benefits.
The only full-throated resistance to the plan came from the Swiss Employers’ Association, with head of social policy Barbara Zimmermann-Gerster noting that "increasing the family allowances would cost several hundred million francs per year." She added that the Federal Council has already promised to raise the allowance - albeit slightly - from next year.
She argued that the money would be better spent on targeted relief programmes for low-income families, rather than a “sprinkler-like” approach that sees rich and poor parents receive the same higher benefits.