Childcare and female employment rates – in Switzerland and worldwide

Switzerland has one of the highest female employment rates in the world. We explain what influences this, what Switzerland does differently – and where it is still very conservative.

03.10.2024, 11:0003.10.2024, 13:40

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In 1997, the government of Quebec, Canada, introduced generous subsidies for child care services. As a result, the prices for childcare fell significantly. Five years later, the effect of this decision could be clearly measured: mothers with young children now participated more in working life, regardless of their level of education. Their participation rate increased by 8 percentage points and their hours worked increased by 231 per year.

Employment rate (or participation rate)

The employment rate (also called participation rate) denotes the proportion of the economically active population (employed persons). and unemployed) in the number of inhabitants within the same age category. In Switzerland, someone is considered unemployed if they are older than 15 years, were neither employed during the reference period nor were they actively looking for work – and would be available to take up employment.

The employment rate therefore differs from that Employment rate (employment rate)which only includes people who have work and thus excludes the unemployed.

The example from Canada shows how it is possible for countries to actively increase women’s employment rates. Here you can find out how and why the employment rate is not everything, as the example of Switzerland clearly shows.

Female employment rates in a country comparison

In recent decades, more and more women around the world have taken up paid work. According to a 2012 World Bank report the employment rate of men has fallen over the same period. Specifically, in 2008, 51.8 percent of all women worldwide participated in the labor market, compared to 50.2 percent in 1980. For men, this figure fell from 82 percent (1980) to 77.7 percent (2008).

But the global differences are large. While in Turkey, for example, only a little over a third of women are active in the labor market, in many European countries, especially northern European countries such as New Zealand or Iceland, there are almost twice as many. Switzerland is also part of this: 62 percent of all women in this country participate in the labor market; this is the seventh highest rate worldwide and well above the OECD average. However, the employment rate for men in Switzerland is also high at 72.4 percent compared to other countries.

Let’s continue with the exciting comparisons, first a short advertising note:

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And now back to the story…

What can be gleaned from this data? “You have to be careful when interpreting,” warns Gesine Fuchs, lecturer in social policy at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. “Because these numbers only describe paid employment – ​​and not unpaid employment.” The statistics per se say nothing about the overall work done by women.

In addition, the women’s employment statistics do not reveal anything about the number of hours worked. And these statistics are quite contrary to the employment rate, especially in Switzerland.

What influences the employment rate of women

In principle, it can be said that in order for women to be able to participate in the labor market, they must both Time as well as that Possibility have to do this. It is known from research that, among other things The following factors have an influence on the participation rate of women:

• Maternal health. The various aspects of motherhood – pregnancy, birth and the period immediately after birth – place a significant burden on women’s health and time. This, in turn, can have a significant impact on their ability to participate in the workforce.
• The number of children per mother. Mothers continue to spend more time caring for children than fathers. For this reason, fewer children per woman – lower birth rates – can theoretically free up women’s time and contribute to an increase in women’s labor force participation.
• Social, economic and cultural factors. The more accepted women are in the labor market, the higher their employment rate tends to be. “For example, many post-communist states have a relatively high female employment rate,” says Gesine Fuchs. Socialist countries have always made it a matter of course for women to work and have lived less of the traditional, more Western-style breadwinner-housewife model. “Women often also enjoyed a very good education. Overall, this led to a high level of cultural acceptance, which can still be seen in the statistics of most countries today,” says Fuchs.

  The same applies to unpaid care work, i.e. looking after relatives and doing household chores: the more women are tied down by this – be it for cultural or economic reasons – the less they have the capacity to participate in the labor market.

  Women still do significantly more unpaid care work, in practically every country:

The graphic shows how many times more women do housework/care work than men. A reading example: In Pakistan women do ten times more care work, in Denmark only 1.3 times more.

• Supported child care and other family-oriented policies. Statistics show that in countries with higher public spending on family benefits, female employment rates are also higher. And we also know from research – like the example from Canada – that this effect is actually causal.

Different countries – different support

Especially in times of declining labor supply, economies have a great interest in increasing employment rates and thus making better use of their workforce potential. This is done in many places, but using very different models.

Die social democratic politicsas practiced in Sweden, for example, is characterized by subsidized daycare centers, paid parental leave, etc both mothers and fathers to encourage participation in childcare and to promote full employment.

The Unicef ​​research institute Innocenti investigated in 2021how different highly developed countries compare in terms of the quality and affordability of child care. Accordingly, countries such as Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Germany perform best internationally. The quality of childcare outside of the family is highest in Iceland, Latvia, New Zealand, Finland and Denmark.

Liberal welfare statessuch as those in the Anglo-Saxon region, however, pursue a more cautious approach to government spending on families when it comes to social policy. As a result, according to the Innocenti study, couples with average incomes in Switzerland, Ireland and New Zealand have to spend between a third and half of their salary to care for two children.

A well-known example of a liberal welfare state is the USA, which has a particularly short maternity leave of twelve weeks. In addition, the United States is the only OECD country – and only one of eight countries worldwide – that does not have a legally guaranteed paid maternity leave policy. In other words, companies are free to pay mothers during maternity leave.

The example shows that rich countries do not necessarily have better conditions for mothers and fathers. Both low childcare rates and short parental leave can also be found in some of the richest countries – such as Switzerland.

Why Switzerland is a special case

The fact that the childcare rate in Switzerland is low is also reflected in the following statistics:

As shown above, Switzerland has one of the highest employment rates – but at the same time only comparatively few hours worked.

Why is that? “The fact that Switzerland has such a high female employment rate is primarily due to the liberal labor market,” explains political scientist Gesine Fuchs. This allows employees to work part-time relatively easily. In addition, economic pressure has increased: “Middle-class couples now have to have more than one income in order to be able to live to a certain standard.”

The state is also trying to specifically promote daycare places in this country. The so-called start-up financing is a temporary impulse program that has been running since 2003 and is intended to promote the creation of additional places for day care for children. “Research shows that the employment of Swiss women has benefited from this program,” says Fuchs. (However, due to the austerity plans that the Federal Council is planning and which it recently communicated, this program is on the brink.)

Nevertheless: Since Swiss men still work above-average hours compared to other countries, it is clear that there is still a strong gender-specific effect.

On the one hand, there are likely to be economic reasons: for many people, external childcare is not worthwhile because it would cost more than the additional wages bring in the household. And on the other hand, there is much to suggest that The standards in Switzerland are still comparatively conservative. Because: As a rule, women in this country still reduce their workload in order to take care of childcare if it is too expensive.

RealTalk – the podcast

This means that not only unpaid work remains: “Women often bear the mental burden more heavily. We have all the invisible things in our heads” – said Andrea Jansen at RealTalk in the discussion with Christoph Simon. The two discussed how everyday life works when both parents work. You can listen to the podcast.

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