Same here, both my wife and I are foreigner and we want our kid to learn Swiss German from birth 
. He’s almost 1yo and we are now searching for a new Kita near the place where we’ll move in a few months.
At the current one we pay 2200 chf per month (100% 5 days) but where we are searching for, it’ll go up to 2900 chf unfortunately.
It’s a lot of money, but it pays off in the long run - in our opinion - since the kid socializes a lot and it’s all day entertained in so many ways that we probably could not at home.
Of course we miss him terribly, but reducing our working time is not an option, plus it would be costing several times more than the childcare fee.
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We have 2 kids under 3yo in private daycares in Geneva.
6200 CHF per month for both.
Our financial situation is a mess. We just wait to get older. We work both 100%. No relatives around as we moved here alone before the kids.
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For me, the evenings and weekends is already plenty of time with the kids! 
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On 1 yea it should get better.
No chance to get a public daycare spot for the second one ?
It’s longer to lend on Rice Gauche.
Clearly I should open a private daycare instead of doing … something else 
How are these daycares not crazy profitable?
Come to think about it, they probably are, if you were to manage them, just a constant headache managing employees and parents.
We have been waiting to the waiting list for public for 1y already. No luck.
Our oldest one will start primary school next September so this will lead to a cost of around 4000 instead of 6200 that we have now.
This is the sad reality about raising young children in Switzerland and working at the same time.
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Indeed.
However given that employees need to be specifically qualified I guess their salaries need to be also high enough.
https://emploi-service-public.ch/educatrice-de-la-petite-enfance-salaire
In any case, our financial plans and savings are hurting. A lot.
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If I understand correctly
- 1 carer per 3 kids
- They should be decently paid and educated
- The space/amenities need to be rented/managed
Simple math says that 3x3000 (in this case) should cover for all of those, so not sure how much “profit per child” there remains in the end. 
(But I don’t know the exact economics of the 3rd point of course)
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They are basically just about breaking even.
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Looking at the status of many private Kita’s, I totally agree with you. Probably it’s more like 4 to 5 kids per carer, given that the majority doesn’t do full time 5 days a week. But I suspect that carer should be paid anyway, almost full time. Plus most Kita’s are open 11 to 12 hours a day, meaning they need also shifts. A total nightmare if you put together the variability of each kid’s schedule and each carer working hours/days.
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How much does kids cost? So far our kids (8 & 11) have cost us over 500k….
Table below includes daycare/Mittagstisch, clothes, toys, hobbies, health insurance, random family outings etc. and adds up to over 400k over 10 years. A big portion of it is daycare cost.
In addition to that, per month I’d say it’s 500-1000 CHF higher rent to have a flat suitable for kids (location and size).
The sum does not include vacation/travel, which is also more expensive due to multiple tickets needed and being forced to travel during school holidays.
As others have mentioned, there are some tax reductions/benefits that mitigate the impact a bit.
Still, worth every penny.
| Year | Cost |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 9k |
| 2015 | 29k |
| 2016 | 35k |
| 2017 | 54k |
| 2018 | 64k |
| 2019 | 50k |
| 2020 | 55k |
| 2021 | 38k |
| 2022 | 22k |
| 2023 | 26k |
| 2024 | 29k |
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I love this english-ization of a german term 
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When you list it out like that, it does look pretty horrific!
Big ones:
- Loss of earnings (quit job, part-time, going easy, not going for promotions, cutting out travel)
- Daycare
- Having to move house/bigger house
- More expensive holidays, peak travel times, having to find entertainment/cover during school holidays
- Medical fees and insurance
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You could go full circle on all those FIRE ideas and blame the kids for giving you more purpose, living in a nice, big place, spending less time at work and do stuff together
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No matter how kind you are, German children are kinder.
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