A Swiss survey suggests that children’s difficulties at school are increasingly becoming a medical concern. The remedies may lie less in the clinic than in the classroom. For Swiss paediatricians, school is increasingly part of the medical workload. A new study by gfs.bern, commissioned by Stiftung Mercator Schweiz, surveyed 469 practising paediatricians and supplemented their […]
Graduate unemployment rises dramatically in Switzerland
Unemployment among graduates from Swiss universities and universities of applied sciences increased between 2023 and 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). One year after graduation, the unemployment rate as defined by the International Labour Organisation rose from 3.9% to 6.4% among holders of a university master’s degree, and from 3.4% to 4.9% among […]
Swiss teachers’ unions say schools are ill-equipped for hot summers
Many children return to school next week. Switzerland’s sweltering summer has renewed concern over the condition of its schools, many of which are poorly equipped to cope with extreme heat. Meeting in Bern on Thursday, teachers’ unions warned that high temperatures can impair children’s ability to learn, reported RTS. Investing in school buildings means investing […]
Swiss mothers push for six months of maternity leave
A petition signed by more than 110,000 people is calling for maternity leave in Switzerland to be extended from 14 weeks to six months, reported RTS. The petition was submitted to the Federal Chancellery on Monday. Its organisers argue that the 98 days currently granted are insufficient during the first months of a child’s life. […]
Desire for large families fading in Switzerland
Fewer Swiss people want children, and those who do are having them later. Switzerland’s fertility rate has fallen to its lowest level on record. In 2024 women had, on average, 1.29 children, well below the 2.07 needed to replace one generation with the next, wrote the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). There were 78,000 live births […]
Switzerland enshrines children’s right to a violence-free upbringing
Children in Switzerland now have an explicit legal right to a violence-free upbringing, reported SRF. From July 1st, amendments to the Civil Code state that corporal punishment and other forms of degrading treatment are incompatible with good parenting, reinforcing a growing consensus that physical discipline harms children’s development. The legal change does not create new […]
Switzerland lags behind on support for breastfeeding
Swiss mothers breastfeed at among the highest rates in the developed world. Almost all babies—97%—are breastfed immediately after birth, while half are still being exclusively breastfed at around 17.4 weeks. Comparable figures are lower in neighbouring Germany (46%) and Austria (43.5%). Yet Switzerland performs much less impressively when judged on the policies and institutions that […]
More young Swiss men embracing traditional masculinity
A new Swiss study suggests that attitudes towards masculinity are becoming more polarised. Männlichkeit im Wandel, a report by the University of Zurich’s Jacobs Center, is based on a representative survey of 6,138 people aged 18 to 64 living in Switzerland.Its findings are striking. Young men are much more likely than older men, and far […]
Infant formula containing cereulide toxin remains on sale in Switzerland
Infant formula sold in Switzerland still contains traces of cereulide, a toxin that can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in babies, according to an investigation by RTS. Although the products comply with the emergency threshold adopted by European food-safety authorities, the broadcaster questions both the scientific basis of that limit and the testing methods used to […]
Childlessness and smaller families driving down fertility in Switzerland
Switzerland recorded fewer births and marriages in 2025, extending demographic trends that have become increasingly pronounced over the past decade. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), 78,200 children were born in Switzerland in 2025, around 100 fewer than a year earlier. Although the decline was marginal, it marked the fourth consecutive annual fall in […]
