Good practice

Suisse – Programme fédéral d'aides à la garde d'enfants — Financement extrafamilial (2003–2026)

Switzerland · Bern · See the Switzerland profile

Le programme suisse d'aides fédérales à la garde extrafamiliale (depuis 2003) a cofinancé ~63 000 nouvelles places jusqu'en 2020, aidant les parents — surtout les mères — à concilier travail et famille. Prolongé jusqu'en 2026, une loi permanente est en cours d'élaboration.

~63,000

Nouvelles places d'accueil cofinancées (2003-January 2020)

~100,000 across ~3,200 facilities

Total national de places d'accueil (2020)

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV / OFAS)
Period: 2003–present
Keywords: government, early childhood education, social policy

Context

La loi fédérale suisse sur les aides financières à l'accueil extrafamilial pour enfants (en vigueur depuis le 1er février 2003) accorde des aides au démarrage aux cantons, communes et organisations à but non lucratif pour créer des places d'accueil réglementées, sur la base du raisonnement explicite selon lequel le coût inabordable de la garde d'enfants est le principal obstacle structurel à la participation des mères au marché du travail.

Results

Entre 2003 et janvier 2020, le programme a cofinancé environ 63,000 nouvelles places d'accueil, contribuant à un total national d'environ 100,000 places réparties sur près de 3,200 structures. Une étude évaluée par les pairs, fondée sur une expérience naturelle exploitant la variation cantonale de l'offre d'accueil pour enfants, a montré qu'une plus grande disponibilité de places d'accueil augmente significativement les heures de travail rémunéré des mères, apportant une preuve causale du lien entre les résultats du programme et les progrès en matière d'égalité des genres.

Conclusions

Le programme a été prolongé à trois reprises, la dernière fois jusqu'au 31 décembre 2026, et le Conseil fédéral prépare une loi permanente destinée à le remplacer ; 58% des femmes suisses actives travaillent encore à temps partiel (2023).

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-23
Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV / OFAS) — accessed 2026-06-23
BSV — Financial Support for Childcare — accessed 2026-06-23
SWI swissinfo — Swiss parliament approves childcare allowance — accessed 2026-06-23
PMC 6214297 — Childcare and maternal employment: natural experiment in Swiss cantons — accessed 2026-06-23
Eurydice — Early childhood education and care funding in Switzerland — accessed 2026-06-23

Quality score: 85/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Quasi-experimental

Top 22% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability2/3

Federal start-up grant models for childcare exist in Austria, Germany and other OECD countries; Swiss design and BSV eligibility criteria are publicly documented and replicable.

Impact on gender equality1/1

~63,000 new regulated care places co-funded 2003–2020 (BSV); cantonal natural-experiment research (PMC 6214297) causally links childcare expansion to increased maternal employment hours.

Effectiveness1/1

Continuously operational for 20+ years and extended three times, consistently absorbing available grants each cycle.

Efficiency1/1

Start-up grants leverage cantonal and communal co-investment; federal contribution covers part of establishment costs, multiplying public expenditure impact.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

Peer-reviewed cantonal natural-experiment study (Bettendorf et al., PMC 6214297) provides causal evidence linking Swiss childcare supply expansion to gender employment outcomes.

Sustainability1/1

Active and extended to 2026; Federal Council drafting a permanent replacement law to institutionalise support.

Achievement / evidence1/1

~63,000 new places 2003–2020 (BSV); total regulated supply reached ~100,000 places across ~3,200 facilities by 2020.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

Reducing childcare gaps is explicitly framed as a work-family reconciliation and gender equality measure in the legal preamble and national equality strategy.

Curator validation0/1

Awaiting curator review.

Cite this

Evidoria. Suisse – Programme fédéral d'aides à la garde d'enfants — Financement extrafamilial (2003–2026). Persistent ID: fb807710-29f7-4a83-856a-d494c8a6c358.

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