The number of prisoners in Switzerland rose 50% from 1988 to 2017. Much of this is due to population growth. Switzerland’s population grew 28% over the same period. However, population growth doesn’t account for all of the increase in prison numbers. In 1988, there were 70 prisoners per 100,000. By 2017, the same figure was […]
Swiss government commission favours parental leave over paternity leave
Switzerland lags behind most european countries on financial support aimed at easing the challenges of combining work with starting a family. An initiative, which aims to introduce 20 days of paid paternity leave to make it easier for fathers to help at home when their children are young, is being discussed in Bern, but no […]
Rejected Swiss citizenship applicants withdraw appeal
A couple who refused to the shake hands with those interviewing them during their citizenship application, has withdrawn their appeal challenging its rejection, according to the newspaper Le Matin. Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand, a local politician who interviewed the couple last spring told Keystone-ATS that the couple’s application was rejected by a majority of the municipality of […]
Swiss to vote on gun law changes
After the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, the EU decided to tighten firearms laws in member states and nations with EU agreements, such as Switzerland. Unhappy, a group of gun owners decided to launch a referendum against the pending changes. According to the organizers, the required number of 50,000 signatures has been presented […]
Death of child in skiing accident acts as reminder of the dangers of reckless skiing
The recent death of a young girl in a skiing accident in Lenk in Switzerland has reopened the debate on how to deal with dangerous skiers. On 28 December 2018, a four year old girl, who was hit by a skier at the resort of Lenk in the canton of Bern, died in hospital after […]
Question: Many parents hope their children will have lots of choice in life. But is this a recipe for happiness?
Dan Gilbert, the author of “Stumbling on Happiness,” challenges this idea. Gilbert thinks choice is the enemy of happiness and cites research to support his conclusions. For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Agism most frequent form of discrimination in Switzerland, according to survey
Growing old is something that happens to nearly all of us. However, according to a recent study close to one in three people (28%) reported age-related discrimination in Switzerland in 2017. The rate of age discrimination (28%) is higher than sexism (22%) and racism (12%), according to Christian Maggiori, a professor focused on social work […]
Switzerland’s army to be headed by a woman for the first time
Viola Amherd, one of two new women joining Switzerland’s seven-member executive team on 1 January 2019, will head the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), a position focused mainly on military matters. This will be the first time the position has been held by a woman, according to RTS. Amherd (on the […]
Swiss gender pay gap 10th highest in Europe
In a recently published study Switzerland has the 10th highest gender pay gap in Europe. Switzerland’s gap of 17% is bigger than Italy’s (5.3%), Luxembourg’s (5.5%), Belgium’s (6.1%), Sweden’s (13.3%), Spain’s (14.2%), Denmark’s (15%), France’s (15.2%) or the Netherlands’ (15.6%), but lower than Finland’s (17.4%), Portugal’s (17.5%), Austria’s (20.1%), the UK’s (21%) or Germany’s (21.5%). […]
Smoking soon to be banned on Swiss train platforms
Today, Switzerland’s public transport union (UTP) announced it would ban smoking on train platforms from 1 June 2019. From this date, smoking will only be allowed in designated smoking areas. The UTP hopes the ban will improve the comfort of passengers, reduce cleaning costs and better cater for both non-smokers and smokers. In Switzerland, platform […]
