Figures on unfilled apprenticeship places show the difficulty of matching supply and demand in the labour market. This year there were 12,000 unfilled apprenticeship positions in Switzerland. Switzerland’s apprenticeship model, which helps match workers’ skills with employer demand, is one driver of Switzerland’s low unemployment (4.9%) – 2018 ILO basis. Switzerland has highest underemployment in […]
Average age of mothers reaches new high in Geneva
In 2018, 5,356 babies were born in the Canton of Geneva, 97 fewer than in 2017. For the first time since records began, the average age of mothers at the time of their babies’ birth surpassed 33 years old (33.2). The mothers of more than half (57%) of new borns in 2018 were 33 or […]
Children cleaning Swiss classrooms divides opinion
In 2002, Prilly, a municipality in French-speaking Switzerland decided it needed to cut its spending. The roughly 15,000 francs it was spending on school cleaning didn’t escape the cuts, according to 20 Minutes. Less commercial cleaning meant pupils and teachers had to pitch in and help keep the school clean. Commercial cleaners continued to clean […]
Court agrees – cross-border workers cannot expect places in Geneva schools
Geneva’s administrative court recently confirmed the government’s decision to refuse school places to children living in France. The court confirmed the legal validity of a ruling on the issue by the canton’s State Council, the government’s executive. Some opposed to the State Council’s position had taken the issue to court arguing that it was at odds […]
Blanket ban on mobile phones in Vaud schools
From the beginning of the next school year, mobile phone use will be banned in Vaud schools, according to 20 Minutes. Many other cantons have banned mobile phone use in classrooms, however the Vaud ban will include all use on school premises, both inside and outside the classroom. Phone use will only be allowed for […]
Swiss upper house in favour of two weeks paternity leave
Recently, the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, voted 26 to 16 in favour of two weeks of paternity leave following the birth of a child, according to 20 Minutes. At the same time, the Council of States rejected the idea of four weeks of paternity leave by 29 to 14. Paternity leave has become […]
Swiss universities rise further in global ranking
A recent ranking placed two Swiss universities in the top 20. ETH Zurich (ETHZ), the Swiss university for science and technology based in Zurich rose from 7th to 6th place this year in the overall global ranking by QS. Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), ETHZ’s sister in French-speaking Switzerland near Lausanne, scooped 18th place, […]
Switzerland 5th most skeptical of vaccine safety
A recently published survey by the Wellcome Trust, which surveyed people around the world on their vaccination beliefs, found that 22% of those surveyed in Switzerland strongly or somewhat disagreed that vaccines are safe. Only France (33%), Gabon (26%), Togo (25%) and Russia (24%) had higher percentages of people strongly or somewhat disagreeing that vaccines […]
Question of the week: is this 1953 video on how to make a true man helpful?
Back in 1953 the Puerto Rico Department of Health created the Mental Health Film Board Series on the Emotions of Everyday Living. This one entitled Roots of Happiness offers advice on how a father might make a true man of his son while showing how another appears to get things wrong. While it is unlike […]
Young Swiss no longer on hook for parents’ debts
The National Council, Switzerland’s parliament, supported a motion that would end the transfer of debt from unpaid health insurance premiums to young adults, according to 20 Minutes. Under the current system, when young adults reach the age of 18 they must pay any health insurance premiums that were not paid on their behalf by their […]
