Family policy Federal Council sees advantages and disadvantages of parental leave
The Federal Council is ambivalent about the introduction of parental leave. A meaningful cost-benefit analysis is only possible once the objectives of parental leave have been clarified. This would require a political process.
19.02.2025, 11:49
SDA
On Wednesday, the state government took note of a research report on the subject and drew its conclusions from it. According to the report, parental leave models can have various positive and negative effects.
For example, parental leave can improve the compatibility of family life and employment and be beneficial for the health of mothers or the development of children. On the other hand, parental leave leads, among other things, to increased financing requirements and therefore - depending on the form of financing - to higher non-wage labor costs, for example.
The Federal Council writes that the specific design of a parental leave model plays a central role. According to the analysis, the variable parental leave model - in which part of the parental leave can be freely divided between the parents - has less of a negative impact on the income of the other parent and results in lower non-wage labor costs than the parity model - in which both parents take the same amount of leave. In contrast, the parity parental leave model has a more positive effect on mothers' participation in the workforce.
According to the Federal Council, the report should serve as a basis for the discussion on the design of any parental leave in Switzerland. Currently, working mothers in Switzerland are entitled to 14 weeks' maternity leave, while the other working parent can take two weeks' paid leave after the birth of a child.
In Switzerland, there has so far been no political majority in favor of parental leave at national level. A few weeks ago, however, the responsible committee of the Council of States signaled its intention to examine the proposal in depth. The tenor was that a pragmatic solution had to be found that was financially viable. A national popular initiative on the subject is also to be launched soon.
