Good News for Swiss… Cash Bonus for Babies

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Dec. 27 (SEE) - In a bid to increase local birth rates, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland announced a CHF3,000 ($3,032) bonus for having a child, swissinfo.ch reported today.

According to the report, canton Ticino in southern Switzerland will start in the new year offering a premium to parents of newborn or newly-adopted children. To be eligible, the family can’t earn more than CHF110,000 per year.

“Having children should be a joy, not a burden,” says Paolo Beltraminelli, the director of Ticino’s health and welfare department.

The report mentioned that with more deaths (3,230) than births (2,774) in 2017, Ticino also had the lowest birth rate among the 26 Swiss cantons: 7.8 births per 1,000 residents. In comparison, the rate was 11.6 in Appenzell Inner Rhodes, followed closely by cantons Zurich (11.4) and Geneva (11.1), as reported by the Swiss statistics office.

“Recent projections show that in 2040, one third of the population will be retired. It is crucial to maintain a certain equilibrium throughout the generations,” Beltraminelli told swissinfo.ch.

Ticino joins nine other Swiss cantons that already offer a bonus for people who have children. In central Swiss Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri – as well as in mainly French-speaking Fribourg, Jura and Neuchâtel – parents get CHF1,000-CHF1,500. The rate is up to CHF3,000 in Geneva, Valais and Vaud.

Beltraminelli explained that the parental allowance given from January 1, 2019, will “allow families to cope with the income loss that they might potentially face during the first year of a child’s life”.

The cost of having children in Switzerland is hundreds of francs per child per month. Private day care, for example, can run anywhere from CHF60-150 a day in cities like Bern and Zurich.

To help with family-related expenses, federal law requires employers to provide at least CHF200 per month for children under 16, and CHF250 per month for 16-25-year-old students and trainees – unless the children themselves are earning over CHF28,200 a year. Some cantons are more generous; Valais, for example, doles out up to CHF375 and CHF525, respectively.