Extra-family childcare

Household uptake of extra-family childcare is an indicator focusing on pre-school and school age children who are regularly cared for outside the family. It enables analysis of the take-up of extra-family care by different groups of the population. Being able to make use of an informal social network (e.g. relatives) can cost less or make it easier to organise family life but can also be advantageous for labour market participation.

In Switzerland in 2018, 68% of households with child(ren) aged under 13 took up extra-family childcare during a normal week. Households with a migration background take-up extra-family childcare significantly less often than households without a migration background (64% to 71%). Take-up of extra-family childcare among households with a mixed background does not differ to a statistically significant extent from that of households without a migration background.

Overall, the types of childcare most frequently used by households with child(ren) under the age of 13 are the crèche or extracurricular care and grandparents (37% and 34% respectively, compared with less than 15% for the other types of childcare). Households with a migration background and mixed households are significantly more likely to use the crèche or extracurricular care than those with no migration background (roughly 42% compared with 30%). In contrast, households with no migration background are more likely to turn to grandparents than the other population groups (49%). Mixed households do so slightly less often (40%). These are followed by households with a migration background which are three times less likely to turn to grandparents (16%) than those without a migration background.