Switzerland should introduce a total of 36 weeks of parental leave after the birth of a child — that is, 18 weeks for each parent, according to a new popular initiative.
Launched on April 1st by a coalition of trade unions, women’s groups, as well as Social Democratic and Green parties, the initiative aims to extend Switzerland’s current statuary leave — 14 weeks for mothers and two for fathers — to 36 weeks in total.
READ ALSO: What parental leave are new parents entitled to in Switzerland?
“Family leave is the new generational asset that provides working parents with the necessary infrastructure to support society as a whole,” the initiative committee pointed out.
Under their proposal, each parent would be entitled to an 18-week leave, taken consecutively; only a maximum of four-and-a-half weeks could be taken simultaneously by both.
The proposal doesn’t indicate the exact cost of this measure, or where the money to pay for it would come from.
It does say, however, that funding should be modelled on the allowance for military or civilian service. (The compensation for loss of income during the military and civilian service is 69 francs per day or 80 percent of the most recent salary received, for those who worked for at least four weeks or 160 hours in the 12 months preceding the service term).
For low-income households, the amount of the allowance should correspond to their regular wages.
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What’s next?
For this issue to end up at the ballot box, the orgnising committee must collect 100,000 valid signatures on the initiative petition until October 1st 2025.
What are the odds that this initiative will become law — that is, the majority of voters will approve it?
Based on past experience, the odds are not good.
Switzerland has a strong history and tradition of individual responsibility and financial self-sufficiency, which promotes the idea that the state (or employer) should not pay for people choosing to have children.
Similar initiatives various cantons prove that point.
So far, only Geneva has approved a 24-week parental leave, but it is not implemented.
That’s because the Federal Council ruled that the planned funding with contributions from employers and employees is incompatible with federal law — which could very well happen with the 36-week initiative as well.
Elsewhere, the idea was nixed as well.
For instance, in 2024, the Thurgau parliament rejected a cantonal petition for parental leave of at least 20 weeks. Bern too rejected a 24-week parental leave initiative.
And in Zurich, an initiative calling, like the newest one, for 36 weeks of leave, failed to pass at the ballot box in May 2022.
