Every year, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) gives advance warning of compulsory health insurance premiums for the coming year. After years of rising premiums, many will be relieved by the small projected increases for 2020. Across all of Switzerland, the average premium is expected to rise 0.2% to CHF 315.40 a month. On […]
Geneva’s 2020 budget 590 million francs short
Next year the canton of Geneva plans to spend CHF 9,143 million. However, forecast revenue is only CHF 8,553 million, leaving a shortfall of CHF 590 million, according to a cantonal government press release. The canton’s finances have been hit hard from both sides. Costs will rise significantly, mainly due to the bailout of the […]
Initiative to house asylum seekers outside Switzerland
This week, a group of politicians from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) announced a new popular initiative aimed at asylum seekers, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. The initiative aims to put in place a system of on-the-spot asylum assistance where asylum seekers are housed in secure zones in their home country or nearby. Switzerland […]
Swiss upper house rejects parental leave plan
Switzerland’s government been grappling with the politics of extending universal tax-funded parental leave for a number of years. Some are pushing for paternity leave for fathers and others for a shared pool of parental leave, which mums and dads can apportion. There is also a popular vote working its way through the system which aims […]
Switzerland faces looming shortage of workers
As more baby-boomers – born from 1946 to 1964 – retire, Switzerland will faces a shortage of workers, according to Credit Suisse, a bank. Economists at the bank estimate that 1.1 million people in Switzerland will retire over the next 10 years, a figure which includes nearly 800,000 people currently working. By 2021, there will […]
Zurich city launches initiative to allow foreigners to vote
Last week, the city of Zurich filed a cantonal initiative to allow foreigners to vote at a municipal level in the canton. In July 2019, Corine Mauch, Zurich’s mayor, announced her plan to launch the initiative. If the initiative is successful foreign residents with B or C permits who have lived in Zurich for at […]
Switzerland’s largest glacier could shrink by half by century end
Recent 3D modelling estimates how climate change will affect the Aletsch Glacier. In the worst case scenario modeled by researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich, only a few small patches of ice would remain. Aletsch, the largest glacier in Switzerland and the Alps, currently stretches over 23 km from its 4,000m high starting […]
How moving within Switzerland can stop you getting permanent residency
A recent case in the canton of Bern reveals the risks of moving to a municipality where they speak a different language. A Brazilian women married to a Swiss national found this out the hard way, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. After moving from a French-speaking municipality in the Canton of Neuchâtel to the […]
Vevey’s Fête des vignerons set to make large loss
With the celebration over, attention has shifted to the cost of the Fête des vignerons, Vevey’s once-in-25-year winegrowers festival. As the bills come in it looks like the festival will make a loss of CHF 16 million, according to the François Margot, who was interviewed by the newspaper 24 heures. Fête des Vignerons: “Le manque […]
Steep drop in violence among young men in Switzerland
After quadrupling between 1995 and 2008, acts of violence among men aged 15 and 24 in Switzerland dropped by 56% between 2008 and 2017, according to a recent analysis by accident insurer Suva. In 2017, there were around 1,600 violent offenses, compared to around 3,600 in 2008. The number of cases has been broadly flat […]
