Tag Archives: Parenting

Switzerland has the world’s fourth most expensive childcare according to UNICEF. The federal government is working on a package of financial subsidies costing CHF 530 million a year to reduce the cost to parents, reported RTS. Photo by Ksenia Chernaya on Pexels.comA 2021 UNCEF study of childcare in rich nations ranks Switzerland as having the fourth most unaffordable childcare, a measure that considers the cost relative to income. The only places with more unaffordable childcare are...

© Zsv3207 | Dreamstime.com This week, Switzerland’s government set a date for the introduction of more generous tax deductions for childcare. From 1 January 2023, parents will be able to deduct up to CHF 25,000 per child in childcare costs from their annual taxable income, reported RTS. Currently, the maximum is CHF 10,100 per child. The change is the result of a new law that was created in autumn last year. Only external expenses incurred for the care of children...

This week, Switzerland’s government set a date for the introduction of more generous tax deductions for childcare. © Zsv3207 | Dreamstime.comFrom 1 January 2023, parents will be able to deduct up to CHF 25,000 per child in childcare costs from their annual taxable income, reported RTS. Currently, the maximum is CHF 10,100 per child. The change is the result of a new law that was created in autumn last year. Only external expenses incurred for the care of children under 14 years old...

This week, a Council of States commission accepted a plan to regulate the cannabis trade in Switzerland, reported 20 Minutes. This decision by the public health commission follows an earlier one by a parliamentary commission looking at the same question. The way is now clear for parliament to create a new law that lifts the ban on the use of cannabis in Switzerland. The Council of States commission voted 9 to 2 in favour of changing the rules around the sale and use of cannabis. A key...

Around three years ago, the Swiss canton of Jura introduced a minimum wage of CHF 20 an hour (US$ 21.65). Now there is political pressure relook at the move, according to RTS. © Kasto80 | Dreamstime.comA group of cantonal parliamentarians from the PDC (CVP) is pushing for a review of the situation in response to pressure from some young people. The group says that the CHF 20 floor on hourly wages is having a negative effect on the employment prospects of some job seekers, particularly...

In Switzerland, parents can claim tax allowances for their children. Currently they can deduct CHF 6,500 for each child plus up to CHF 10,100 per child for money spent on childcare from their federal tax calculation. © Marija Starcevic | Dreamstime.comResidents of Switzerland pay three layers of tax: federal, cantonal and municipal. These particular deductions apply only to federal tax. The Federal Council and Parliament decided to increase the per child deduction from CHF 6,500 to CHF...

© Michael Müller | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s federal government is against imposing nationwide restrictions to slow the spread of a second wave on infections, according to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. The federal government plan, which is under development, is more regional than the response to the first wave of infections and focuses decision making power at the cantonal level, reported the newspaper. Cantons would have the power to independently confine and...

Switzerland’s federal government is against imposing nationwide restrictions to slow the spread of a second wave on infections, according to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. © Michael Müller | Dreamstime.comThe federal government plan, which is under development, is more regional than the response to the first wave of infections and focuses decision making power at the cantonal level, reported the newspaper. Cantons would have the power to independently confine and quarantine schools,...

For school pupils in canton Valais, skiing could soon be part of the curriculum under plans to create three obligatory snow sports days a year, the NZZ am Sonntag reports. © Corepics Vof | Dreamstime.comChristophe Darbellay, the canton’s education minister, wants to get young people back on skis to ensure the future of the sport, which generated CHF 758 million in Switzerland from lift passes alone in 2018/19. The project, which will cost CHF 2.7 million, has been approved by the...

A commission for the canton of Geneva’s government supports a tax on added sugar to fight obesity, according to the newspaper Le Temps.  © Lightpoet | Dreamstime.comBertrand Buchs and Delphine Bachmann, two elected officials active in the medical sector, are behind the initiative. The text required to implement the tax, which takes aim at added sugar, is likely to be put to a government vote in March 2020. The money collected would be spent on raising awareness of the damaging health...