by On 26 July 2023, the administration announced that it had given a green light to a vote on a proposal to provide “good affordable childcare for everyone”. A total of 102,238 valid signatures were confirmed, a figure beyond the 100,000 required to call a popular vote in Switzerland. Photo by Alexander Grey on Pexels.comVote organisers want day-care centres to be accessible to all families at prices they can afford. The proposal would price daycare according to income, and cap charges at a maximum of 10% of income. In addition, the federal government would bear two-thirds of the costs, while the cantons would be responsible for providing the daycare places. The referendum is spearheaded by the Socialist Party, which would like to level the playing field by targeting families on
Topics:
Investec considers the following as important: Editor's Choice, Parenting, Personal finance
This could be interesting, too:
Investec writes Swiss to vote on tenancy laws this weekend
Investec writes Switzerland ranked second in digital competitiveness
Investec writes Swiss wages set to rise in 2025
Investec writes Federal Council hopes to boost savings with pension change
On 26 July 2023, the administration announced that it had given a green light to a vote on a proposal to provide “good affordable childcare for everyone”. A total of 102,238 valid signatures were confirmed, a figure beyond the 100,000 required to call a popular vote in Switzerland.
Vote organisers want day-care centres to be accessible to all families at prices they can afford. The proposal would price daycare according to income, and cap charges at a maximum of 10% of income. In addition, the federal government would bear two-thirds of the costs, while the cantons would be responsible for providing the daycare places.
The referendum is spearheaded by the Socialist Party, which would like to level the playing field by targeting families on lower incomes. The initiative aims to provide support beyond a plan to spend an additional CHF 700 million on daycare centres recently approved by parliament, reported 20 Minuten.
Not everyone is supportive of the new initiative. Many in politicians in Bern are more concerned about the federal government’s tenuous finances, which are under strain after the financial shock of the Covid pandemic and rising expenditure in other areas. Politicians in this camp see little if any room for further spending.
More on this:
20 Minuten article (in German)
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.