Family

Families in Switzerland allocate their living spaces differently than other countries. Older generations tend to live in retirement homes rather than living with their children or grandchildren. In America, children take responsibility for their elders and may let them live in the house until they need extensive care that a nurse may need to accommodate. A 1997 survey discovered that 1/3 of those old enough to be on pension lived in a retirement home or alone. The most common type of housing found in Switzerland is one and two person homes, despite that children are beginning to live with their parents longer as couples before marriage. When parents have children it is common for them to find homes outside the major cities. In an ideal world many families want to buy their homes, but about 2/3 of the population does not own their homes.

Living conditions (2000 census)

Households
1 person	36%
2 persons	31.6%
3 persons	12.8%
Living space per person	44 m2 (474 sq ft)

Men and women in Switzerland believe in establishing a stable foundation before starting a family. It is important to the Swiss that they are comfortable in a career setting and complete necessary training because they trust that success in training will amount to a better support system for family life. The average age for women to get married is around 29 and for men it is at 31. Women begin to have children at an average of 30 years old, which makes them the oldest women in Europe to give birth to the first child. The average amount of children per family is only 1.42 compared to the world average of 2.65 children per family. As mentioned before, Swiss families hold great importance on supporting the family comfortably, without struggle. The main reason many families limit the number of children is because larger “flats” are very expensive and having a smaller home would permit better financial support for the children. However, one main difference between Switzerland and other cultures is that it is no longer necessary to be married in order to have children. In the year 2000, a law was passed that stated both parties would have equal custody of the children despite not being married. In 2006 a poll conducted showed that 2/3 of the people surveyed believed it was acceptable to have children without a proper marriage. Now many people do not considered marriage a necessity since most of them end in divorce; the divorce rate is continuing to increase. In 2005 there was a record of 40,139 marriages and 21,332 divorces, which is approximately half.

           The Swiss family

Indicator	Value 2005
Source: Federal Statistical Office (2005)
Age at first marriage	31 (men) / 28.7 (women)
divorce rate	52.6%
children per woman	1.42
mother's age at birth of   first child	29.5

Women in Switzerland try their best to balance their lives between children and work, which is the case in most cultures. Men in Switzerland bring the main income into the household and many women are forced to give up their careers to stay at home and care for the children. A survey completed in 2000 revealed that 2/3 of the families involved had the male of the household as the main breadwinner and women were working part time, if at all. Less than 1% of the families surveyed stated that the work between children, the home, and career was split equally between parents. Once children get into their teenage years many women begin to pick up a few part time hours to help out.

Values of equality between men and women are improving but the issues with childcare prove there is still work to be done. 2005 was the first year that women were able to receive maternal benefits, and since this time women are able to collect 80% of their salary during their 14 week maternity leave. Before the July 2005 law was established companies were not bound by the law to compensate women during child birth and many women had to be lucky enough to work for a business that progressed with social trends. Another reason many women are not able to equally contribute to household incomes is because affordable child care facilities are few and far between. Private facilities are very expensive and cannot always be supported by one income families. Employers are starting to realize the importance of women working and are thinking of ways to accommodate a family friendly environment.

Switzerland falls behind other European when it comes to equality of the sexes. A gender gap survey completed in 2006 ranked the country as 25^th place among 115 countries, but they have been trying to make gradual improvements since the 1980’s.  Switzerland began accepting equality between men and women in 1981 when a simple law was established. Equality continued to flourish for women in 1988 when the Federal Office of Equality for Women was founded. Specific career related laws have been in effect since 1996, which ban discrimination especially in the work place.