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In Switzerland, the total costs of raising a child come to well over CHF1 million ($1.22 million). <\/p>\n
Keystone \/ Gaetan Bally <\/p>\n
Across the globe, rising childlessness is the main driver for plunging birth rates. Switzerland, however, tells a different story.\n<\/p>\n
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July 29, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
Many young South Koreans see themselves as part of the \u201cN-po\u201d generation. The \u201cN\u201d stands for an unspecified number, while \u201cpo\u201d is the Korean word for \u201cgiving up\u201d. It refers to a generation forced to give up everything that once seemed within reach: home ownership, building a career and having children. With just 0.7 children per women, South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s highly competitive environment is widely seen as the main reason for this trend. \u201cParents deem it irresponsible to have more than one child because putting even one through the education system already consumes enormous resources,\u201d says Mikko Myrskyl\u00e4, director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Demographic Research. At the same time, there are strong incentives not to have children at all. In South Korea, motherhood can severely undermine a woman\u2019s career prospects.<\/p>\n
In most European countries, the so-called motherhood penalty is far less pronounced. Yet, the main driver of dropping birth rates is the decline in first births.<\/p>\n
Myrskyl\u00e4 believes that the drop in first births accounts for 70% to 90% of the overall decline in birth rates across much of Europe. \u201cThe first child is the bottleneck, and that is precisely what most political measures fail to address.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third child creates a new layer of constrains<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the situation in Switzerland? Outside the EU, the country with its high mountains, high wages and high costs often plays by different rules.<\/p>\n
Last time we checked, Switzerland\u2019s birth rate stood at 1.20 children per woman, clearly below the EU average of 1.34. According to Laura Bernardi, Professor of Demography and Sociology at Lausanne University, only half of the decline over the past five years can be attributed to falling first-birth rates in Switzerland. The other half is due to a shift towards smaller families. \u201cIn Switzerland, it is becoming increasingly rare for couples to have a second, and especially a third child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the same period, 8.5% fewer first children were born in Switzerland, while second births fell by 9.0% and third births by as much as 13.6%. \u201cMany couples still become parents, but stop after the first child,\u201d Bernardi concludes.<\/p>\n
Even if they wanted another child, many Swiss couples reach a point where it would become almost impossible to manage, both financially and practically, says Bernardi. \u201cThe reason is that the cost structure for raising a child in Switzerland is highly non-linear.\u201d A first child, she explains, requires major adjustments such as arranging childcare, reducing working hours and, in some cases, moving house. \u201cBut within a dual-income household, these changes are mostly still manageable.\u201d<\/p>\n
A second child increases costs further but, according to Bernardi, can still be accommodated within a similar arrangement. \u201cHaving a third child typically creates a whole new layer of constraints. It often requires more living space, higher childcare costs and a further reduction in working hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most expensive country in the world<\/p>\n
The problem is exacerbated by Switzerland\u2019s notoriously high cost of living. In the 2026 Cost of Living Index, Swiss cities take the top six places pushing New York City \u2013 the quintessential global city \u2013 to seventh place.<\/p>\n
Already ten years ago, US media suggested that having three children in Manhattan was the ultimate status symbol. The same is now true in Switzerland, especially in larger cities.<\/p>\n
Raising a child in Switzerland costs at least half a million Swiss francs. If lost income from working part-time is included, the price tag can easily double as the German-language newspaper BlickExternal link<\/a> recently reported.<\/p>\n Although low-income families receive several benefits such as subsidies for healthcare costs, compared with the rest of Europe, Switzerland still has a \u201crelatively ungenerous institutional framework for supporting parenthood\u201d as Bernardi puts it. For example, there is no parental leave that can be shared flexibly, while childcare costs for middle-income families remain exorbitantly high.<\/p>\n Finland: falling birth rates despite gender equality<\/p>\n A contrasting trend can be seen in Scandinavian countries where governments encourage both mothers and fathers to remain in the workforce by offering long and well-paid parental leave and widely available childcare. According to Bernardi, policies that promote gender equality and shared parental responsibility make it easier to combine full-time work with raising children.<\/p>\n And yet, family-friendly policies alone do not necessarily lead to higher birth rates as a comparison within Scandinavia illustrates. Denmark continues to perform comparatively well with a fertility rate of 1.50, and women in Norway and Sweden also have more children than their Swiss counterparts. Finland, by contrast, trails just ahead of Switzerland with a fertility rate of 1.30 children per woman despite its generous family and gender equality policies.<\/p>\n The reason for this is that Finland sees even fewer first births than other European countries. \u201cWe actually have many families with three or four children. The real challenge today is getting couples to have children in the first place,\u201d says Anna Rothkirch, a demographer from Finland.<\/p>\n She believes that childlessness is driven by growing individualism, substance abuse, higher divorce rates and the lack of suitable partners. Smartphones and social media also play a significant role. \u201cWe are experiencing a dating crisis, a mental health crisis and a 50% drop in the marriage rate. Nothing fundamental has changed over that period apart from digitalisation.\u201d These are global trends affecting countries around the world.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Demographics\n <\/p>\n Swiss birth rate hits all-time low as new challenge looms <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Jun 20, 2026 <\/p>\n In times of economic crisis, couples put off having children. Now, on top of this, comes an existential fear: will AI make us superfluous? <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785310380_653_358334045_highres.jpg\")
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