Childcare in Zurich region

Children
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Hello everyone,

I am considering moving to Zurich and I could use your help to understand what are the best options to get childcare (my two girls are 2 weeks-old and 3 years old that will still need to go to daycare in 2022-23).

Surrounding cantons are viable also if commuting is reasonable <1h.

Is is as complicated as in Geneva, where I am currently based? I currently have 2 spots in the public daycare here, and don’t want to get into a situation where I seriously regret dropping this.

Thanks,

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you can apply online for subsidies (Betreuungskosten und Subventionen - Stadt Zürich).
Depending on your income you get more or less help from the city.

Lots of Kitas have spaces for Kids with subsidies, its not that big of a hassle unless you a really picky on what daycare you want/need.

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40 posts were split to a new topic: Child care and support for families

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I heard childcare is more subsidised in Geneva and one reason for our higher taxes.

When I was lucky to have a space in the creche here I paid the max contribution ~1800 CHF per month (think it increased in past few years). My colleagues in Zurich were all paying 2500 CHF.

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As this comments shows, Switzerland is in some areas still outdated and when it comes to childcare this system is still based on that the mom should stop working or the kids should go to the grandparents, unfortunately. The Krippe in ZH is around ~120CHF per child per day.

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Not sure if you may regret “losing good spaces” for less good ones, or you may mean financially.
If the latter, then it will likely cost 5k a month for 2 children. Children at Kindergarten cost about 70% of that for half days. (don’t forget children still need day-care in Kindergarten, as Kg is only half a day)
Maybe someone knows at what income level subsidies stop in ZH, for BS it’s at 120k family income, so most on this forum would probably not get any subsidies.
if this is more favourable in GE, it may be a consideration to wait a few years or at least include these “additional expenses” in your analysis/comparison.

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Isn’t that the definition of state school?

Focusing only on costs without looking at the big picture is counter productive. If done properly both parents working should increase wealth of the family and productivity of society as a whole

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On topic - typical price up to 18 moth is 140/d, after it drops to 120/d. In city you might find more expensive, outside touch cheaper.

Off topic - those who argue that mother should stay with kids, don’t you find benefit or early kid socialization with other kids/people?

In general, I wouldn’t say that Switzerland is outdated, but “crazy” … just kidding :slight_smile:
But in reality, you have probably shortest maternity leave in whole Europe. Then you hear that it’s typical for one parent not to work and take care of kids. But then you find all Kita’s full to the brim and better reserve spot year in advance.

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Thank you to all that contributed with actual information about the question.

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There are community playgroups which operate as non-profits and have much more affordable fees than regular daycare centers. My son went to one of these until he reached kindergarten age. If I recall, it was limited to 3 days a week, so only useful if one parent works part-time. We paid around 150 francs per month for 3 half-days per week.

If you can’t find one of those, I would look at Tagesmutters. Not cheap, but generally cheaper than regular daycare.

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